


Missing in Action

by BlooregardJay



Series: The Hardened Earth Saga [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Post-Canon, Tokka - Freeform, Violence, minor fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:53:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25018822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlooregardJay/pseuds/BlooregardJay
Summary: In the desperate times when Yakone's grunts run amok around the city, Toph deemed it useful to change things around within the police to keep everyone safe. Yet even with the new regulations, Toph herself is no where to be found and it's up to her lieutenant and closest friends to track her down before the entire force is unraveled by the crime kingpin from within.Transpires when the gaang is a bit older. I basically used the bare-bones of LoK and its characters, but there are a lot of thing I don't agree with so here is a *revised* universe. Enjoy!
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Toph Beifong/Sokka
Series: The Hardened Earth Saga [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878052
Comments: 47
Kudos: 113
Collections: Tokka Collection





	1. The Lieutenant

**Author's Note:**

> Well hello friends!! I haven't written in a while and I have NO clue how long this will be so we'll see!! I think I'm gonna stray a bit from the LoK canon as I get further along so I apologize, but I hope you enjoy as I update!!!

Through all of the hustle and bustle that moves life in the city, there happen to be days that were peaceful in the urban life of Republic City. Yet the comfort of having the island away from it to raise his family makes Aang feel more at peace with the lost souls who shared the gift of airbending with him, and waking up everyday to his beautiful wife beside him while tiny feet hammer around outside of their door is still a fever dream to him. The tiny feet that belong to  _ his _ kids, which is even harder for him to wrap his head around. There are many things he’s done since he and Appa were brought back to the world that he is beyond proud of, however nothing comes remotely close to the strong-willed spitfire of a boy and the independent, good-natured little girl they share a home with. Wonder how wild the next one with be….Aang smiles as he ponders the thought, sipping the tea that has nearly grown cold now as he watches the two of them fight over a toy their Uncle Zuko gave them on his last trip to the city.The funnier thing is that there are toys for  _ each _ of them, yet here they are. He shakes his head as Kya stomps her feet to begin throwing a fit, his tea shaking in reaction to it. His eyes go wide as he sets it down with a huff of laughter and walks over to them to take the toy, getting down to both of their heights. A day in the life… ”Now, Kya, we talked about this. Deep breaths,” his calm demeanor commands her to do as he asks as the harsh pout on her face softens and she puts her hands together in a meditation stance. “There we go. We do not use bending on your brother. Besides, Uncle Zuko brought  _ two _ of these, one for each of you to play with. Why not go find yours?”

“That one  _ is _ mine, Daddy, Bumi took it from me!” She points accusingly at her older brother who stands there nearly a knuckle-deep in his own nose as he zooms back to reality when Aang scowls at him. He stares wide-eyed at him for a moment before rolling his eyes and stomping away to do what he knew his father was going to ask of him. Aang never had siblings, he was raised around kids his own age, but the closest he’s ever come was when he met his friends. All different ages and backgrounds, however they were a family. Sometimes bickered like siblings and wanted to kill one another some days, but they laughed like siblings, loved like siblings, and Aang’s children are so spoiled rotten by their aunts and uncles. They all do their best to see one another these days. Aang and Katara usually host because of the space they have, but no one cares what they eat or where they end up sleeping as long as they can still have dinner together when they can. He smiles when he sees Bumi return with the identical kimono rhino and he tossles his unmanageable hair as he stands up once more to return to his breakfast. This time, a rapid knock on the door interrupts instead of infantile bending. He cocks an eyebrow as he once again relinquishes custody of his tea with a sigh and moves to answer the door, glancing back to make sure the kids are still playing. If it’s someone they know, then that’s wonderful, and it’s someone they don’t, they won’t be exposed to them. Too many things to worry about these days. He answers the door, the familiar face comforting him and yet surprising him as he stands face-to-face with Cheng, Toph’s lieutenant. 

The only officer that typically visits is Toph  _ herself _ , and Cheng isn’t an unwelcome face to see either considering he joins them on occasion, but the look in his eye brings an uneasy feeling onto Aang. He’s one of the very few people outside of their circle Toph genuinely trusts and he’s a good man, a great cop, but why come here? “Uh morning, Cheng. What brings you to the island today?” he extends his hand towards Aang to shake his, clearly his throat as he does so.

“I wouldn’t come bother you and your family if it wasn’t important, Aang, I’m sorry.” 

“No need to apologize, everything okay? Where’s Toph?” Cheng looks to the ground, his dark eyebrows nearly completely taking over his eyes as he swallows hard.

“Well that’s why I’m here. She didn’t make it to work today and no one has seen or heard from her.” Before Cheng can even finish, Aang disappears back inside and leaves the door open for him to follow as he darts back and forth through the house, gathering his children and all of their belongings. Cheng begins to feel guilty as a thick sense of panic settles over all of them, Bumi following his father at his heels to figure out what exactly was going on and he realizes the same thoughts must’ve been pulsing through his brain like they were for Cheng this morning. It wasn’t like her to not show up. Maybe late occasionally, a coffee in her hand or a few hairs out of place from waking up late and rushing to get to the station, but  _ never _ a no-show. She would’ve told him first where she was headed so he could take over, but the last he saw her was work yesterday and he knew for a fact she was going to be there today due to new recruits. She was tenacious, a hard-ass, and a workaholic. The last he could remember her taking off was Kya’s birth and that was solely because she loved her family more than anything. The worst thoughts that were pushed away earlier this morning creep back to him as he follows Aang towards the back door leading to the stables. 

A hyper Bumi bolts straight to the groggy bison who stretches his head affectionately towards the kids as they climb onto his limbs and pet his fluffy head. He isn’t around Appa as much as the others, so his size still causes an alarming feeling within Cheng when he is. He could easily crush Kya to death as she climbs around his front paws while Aang gives more attention to latching the saddle to him than he does to the toddler. The whistle from the top of the beast brings him back to reality with a flinch as he jogs over to assist with the buckles around Appa’s stomach, giving him an apologetic pat to his leg before scaling it.  _ Sorry, Appa, we just need to get more acquainted _ . 

Aang peels his children away before they pull on his toes anymore and hoists them up to join Cheng, who smiles appreciatively at Bumi as he nearly glues himself to his side as soon as he’s placed in the saddle. Auntie Toph always has the cool cop stories and tricks to show him with the metal wires, it’s only natural that he grew attached to her second in command as well. He barely let Cheng get three feet in the door for dinner the first night he was invited to the island because, regretfully, it was a last-minute invite and he had no time to go all the way home to change. Bumi nearly popped a lung from how fast he talked and gushed over the impressive earthbender that was his new friend. However  _ no one _ could  _ possibly _ match up to Uncle Sokka. Non-benders, sarcastic, they were one in the same, and there were days that it absolutely terrified Katara how alike they are. Knowing that though, Cheng still wasn’t going to pass up the wave of heroism that came with impressing Bumi while Sokka wasn’t around, so he doesn’t mind it when Bumi begs him to shape a toy sword out of the wire. 

Aang assumes his position on Appa’s head, patting him affectionately as he takes the reins. “I know it’s our day off, buddy, but I promise you there will be carts full of cabbages after,” he promises and is answered with a booming roar that makes Cheng’s heart skip a beat, causing the sword to go back to limp metal. “Yip, Yip.” He doesn’t get the chance to rework it as they descending into the sky, Kya laughing excitedly and Aang turns his head to catch that wide smile of his babygirl, then turns to attention to the wild whipping of Bumi’s hair as he clutches to the officer’s arm to steady himself. That’s one thing the avatar was grateful for. They enjoyed the smallest things in life, but especially the small trips they could take on the sky bison. They loved him just as much as their father, and it’s everything he ever dreamed his adult life could be. There were ups and downs, however the way Aang looked at it, there were enough ups to completely ignore the downs that have fallen onto them in the past. The avatar stuff he was well aware of and he knew he had no choice but to tackle that head-on as a child, however being a husband? A  _ father? _ There was nothing that could’ve prepared him for this, and yet, he felt as though he was more cutout for civilian life than even he or Katara knew. They, of course, worked daily with their closest friends to mold this world how it was meant to be, but sitting around the table with the talented people they’ve chosen to be their family was the most rewarding experience. Having their children raised with them as role models was something Aang could never even begin to thank them for. The only thing he wouldn’t thank anyone for was the fun and colorful word Bumi decided to repeat in front of Councilman Haomo during the banquet last month...which could’ve only been repeated to him by his favorite aunt. Speaking of which….”Cheng,” he throws behind him and Cheng looks up, peeling his attention from his kids. “Do you know when you last saw her?”

“After her shift ended at 18 yesterday. She usually heads straight home, then figures out dinner. I get a heads up if she plans on going somewhere other than home. I don’t know how much she’s told you, but she began a new initiative. Each officer gets a partner, they know  _ all _ of their whereabouts, they are required to be introduced to their families, and they go nowhere alone. She caught wind of a leak leading to Yakone, and since officers went missing, she figured two birds with one stone.” Aang releases the reins once Appa evens out and he turns in place to face Cheng directly, the look on his face unreadable. 

“No disrespect, but if that’s the case, why did you let her go home alone last night?” He looks at his hands as he clenches his jaw tightly, the weight slamming on his shoulders again as he thinks to the prior evening. Lack of sleep, long hours, both of them working to the bone and nearly jumping out of their armor the second he saw the second shift coming in. He knew it would be an early day today, he just wanted to get home to relax with Lun….He should’ve known then how selfish he was being and this is the result. He should’ve known they were being watched. 

“I...was being selfish. I should’ve just taken the 15-minute walk with her. It’s always uneventful and she despised that I walked her home as it was, so I figured one night would be okay to just go home. She  _ insisted  _ that she would be okay. I take full responsibility for this, and I will do whatever it takes to find her, Aang.” 

“You won’t do it along, Cheng. You can’t change the past, and things happen. But Toph is far from helpless, she’s not just going to let someone take her. She has to be  _ somewhere  _ in the city. We have to let Katara know what’s going on and drop the kids off. Then we find Sokka.” Cheng nods harshly as he tears his eyes away from the airbender in fear that he can read his mind. He dug through her  _ entire _ apartment, there was no trace of her armor or even the evidence of anyone being there for maybe days. He flares his nostrils as he watches the city approach with an overwhelming anxiety nearly knocking the wind out of him.  _ Sokka will know. He has to. _

It’s not long before Appa begins a descent towards a building near the outskirts of city, people running in and out in a hurry as they land at the front door. There were many people within Republic City that harbored the gift of healing, considered the amount of benders that took refuge within its walls, and Katara made it her life’s work to teach her talents to as many waterbenders as she could in order to help others. She’s considered a master now, with nearly 30 years of experience under her belt and Aang stood by her one hundred percent. The greatest and strongest woman he has ever met and he’s just lucky enough to be married to her. She refuses to slow down though, no matter how long of a day she had. She’s gotten nearly as bad as Toph, but spirits help him if he ever said that to her. He’ll be sleeping in the stables with Appa again. He pushes his worrying thoughts aside and he softens his scrunched-up face when Kya nearly dives head-first out of the saddle, but catches her and Bumi with a gust, eliciting massive amounts of protests. “I will be right back with your mother, you two stay here,” Aang grabs both of their shoulders as they settle down from their fits and sit angrily as he looks to Cheng. “Do you mind?”

  
“Not at all, we’ll stay here.” They smile at one another as Aang spins his way off, greeting a healer as they breeze past him to the carriage that sits beside Appa. Busy day, lots of injured coming through apparently. Hopefully more are leaving than there are staying. He ignores the unpleasant thought that creeps into his brain as he looks around the packed waiting room. They all look up to the new face that has joined them, some of which sit there with gaped mouths while others whisper amongst each other. He’s made quite the impact since he was twelve, so word gets around about the bald headed guy with the arrow tattoos on his body. He would much rather not stick out in a crowd, but hiding who he is solves nothing, so waltzing into the hospital so casually hits people in a weird way. It’s as if the avatar, the man who seems larger than life and holds the world’s balance in his hands, couldn’t just do civilian things. How unbecoming of him! This is why they don't really go out to eat as a group much unless it’s Pao’s. At least there Pao mocks those who stare and is insistent on them staying while he makes it a point to keep them comfortable. They can’t help that it feels like a bad setup to a joke Sokka would tell. _The avatar, the chief of police, the head councilman, and the master healer all walk into a bar…._

He rolls his eyes at himself as he grins uncomfortably at the people who stare, making his way to the front desk as he asks the man attending to the crowd if he knew where his wife was. Thankfully, he gives him direction and Aang nearly bolts to the hallway behind the counter to look for her. Anything to get the hell out of there. He peaks swiftly through the rooms so as not cause a stir more than he already has, and is greatly relieved to see her in the fourth room he peers in. She works diligently with another healer over a man with what appears to be a broken arm as she caresses encouraging words over the amatuer bender and they smile at each other when they hear the relaxed breath from the patient. He gives it a good flex and his face lights up as he thanks them profusely beforehe makes his exit, but is startled by the large man in the doorway. They make eye contact and he begins to spew many incomprehensible things as he leaves the room, still staring at Aang. He waves to the patient as he turns back to the healers who stare at him confusingly and Katara dismisses the other healer but continues to watch the avatar closely until they’re left alone. He slides an arm around her back and kisses her on the cheek, catching another skeptical look in her eye when he pulls away. “I wasn’t expecting the surprise visit, I only left home two hours ago. Is everyone alright? Where are the kids?” Now it’s an alarmed look that crosses her face and grabs her hand to try and quell that before she worries too much.

“They’re fine, they’re driving Cheng nuts outsi-”

“Cheng? As in Toph’s lieutenant? Shouldn’t he be at work?”

“Well yes, but he stopped by our house this morning to talk. I hate to tear you away from work, I’m sorry, but we need to help him….Toph didn’t show up to work this morning.” He doesn’t realize how far down his eyebrows went until they soften at the sight of Katara’s face. He can hear her swallow thickly as her mouth falls open a bit, but before he can get another word out, she dashes from the room to her office. They bicker terribly some days because Toph gets off on making her red-faced, but she is the closest Katara has ever gotten to having a sister and she’d be damned if she was going to sit on the sidelines. He watches as she quickly gathers her things together to dismiss herself for the day, a small knock at the door calling their attention as a dark haired man looks between them to figure out what’s happening. Aang recognizes him as one of the people who work under Katara, which is confirmed when she begins explaining what happens and why she’s disappearing for the day. A list of patients is passed to him as a severe amount of medical lingo is passed between them and all Aang can do is sit back and stare like a fox antelope in headlights. He knows how to do a decent amount of healing thanks to his wife’s lessons, yet he can’t help but admire how far she’s come and how well-oiled of a machine the hospital has become with these masters all under one roof. It’s exhausting watching them work though, he can’t help but wonder how any of them sleep. He can only speak for his wife, and the answer to that is  _ very little _ . 

They begin to make their way to Appa as she bids her coworkers a farewell, the sound of her children screaming very excited greetings to her warming her heart and eliciting a large smile from her when she sees them. Maybe it’s not all that bad to take the day, she doesn’t get many days just the four of them, however that will get easier days coming up since the healers are getting the hang of the system within the hospital. She’ll be able to kick back and enjoy more time watching those little energy monsters grow, hopefully add another one to the mix when they’re able to. Aang slides a hand around her waist and flies the two of them to the saddle and she’s nearly tackled right off when Kya and Bumi bolt to her to give her rib-crushing hugs. She collects them into her arms, kissing them both on the heads and tickles them. She notices their giggles become contagious when she hears Cheng huff a laugh quietly, stiffening when Katara makes eye contact with him. “My apologies for the inconvenience, Katara,” his eyebrows creating a black line across his forehead again as he sits up straighter. “I promise I’ll find her and make sure she’s safe.”

“Not to sound like I’m waving off this serious matter, but are you absolutely positive she didn’t end up staying at a bar? Toph didn’t have a problem, per say, but she frequented at the one near her apartment.” Cheng purses his lips as he tosses the popular theory in his mind once again, but ends up shaking his head in debate to it. 

“We're enforcing new polices and I can get into later for you, but long story short? No. She usually goes straight home after work.”

“How can you be so sure she didn’t stop somewhere before doing so?”

“I’m not sure, not one hundred percent. But she’s not home alone most nights, he’s usually there waiting for her.”

“Who?” Katara and Aang ask nearly in unison, Cheng’s eyes nearly popping out of his head as he looks at the distracted children and then sighs. _Shit, they don't know...._ _ When we do find her, I’m going to have my legs broken and shoved in my ass. No going back now though. _ He looks back up at them, bright red and kicking himself before answering. 

“I, uh, thought you both already knew considering..." They stare intently at him as he sighs again, breaking eye contact with Katara so she doesn't throw him overboard "Sokka.” 


	2. Retracing Footsteps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last person to hear from the chief of police was none other than Sokka, however he has yet to be informed she didn't show up to work that morning until his sister, brother-in-law, and Toph's second in command get the drop on him in his office. Bewilderment and fear begins to swirl around in Sokka's heart as he drops everything to find his best friend.

“Just the coffee and biscuit today, Beshi,” he holds the treat in his mouth as he digs around in his pocket for the pouch of money, fishing in it for three coins and he tosses them to the merchant. Beshi cocks an eyebrow as he trades him a travel cup of coffee, shoving the coins in a box under the counter.

“What, Sokka, no company last night? Trouble in paradise?” He flashes him a cocky smile as Sokka scowls at him, the dough seeming to stick in his throat as he struggles to swallow it. Beshi has the best breakfast at the best price and Sokka’s been stopping here almost every day for years now, so it’s no surprise to him that the shop keep caught on to the extra coffee and snacks the last few weeks. If anyone found out though, well...the papers would have a  _ field day  _ with that scandal and he wasn't ready to deal with that yet, so best to play dumb. 

“There’s no trouble if there is no paradise. I’ve been pullin’ long hours, man, I need the extra juice and buns. Speaking of which, I’ll steal another.” He reaches into his pocket again, Beshi putting a hand up to stop him as he hands him the second one with a genuine smile. Sokka still tries to slide him the extra coin and leaves it sit on the counter, Beshi completely ignoring it as he turns to brew more coffee. 

“It’s been years, son, you should know better. Oh and I’m old. Not stupid. You’re here earlier than you’ve  _ ever  _ been and you went back to your usual. Who’s the lucky lady?”

“Well Mr. Nosy, I’ll have you know I am  _ the _ best boss and usually I bring my secretary breakfast, but she’s off. So I’m buying for just me today.” Beshi starts to polish the ceramic cups and smiles to himself as he shrugs.

“So did she give you those lovebites as a thank you?” Sokka chokes on his coffee and Beshi nearly drops the mug in his hand as a laughter filled with satisfaction booms through him. 

“Well, shit, look at the time! I’m late!” Sokka turns tail to make a run for it and Beshi turns just in time to catch the blue blur nearly running out of his shop and they wave goodbye to each other. 

“Tell the chief I say hi!”

“Thanks again, Besh, have a good day!” He throws behind him as he escapes the coffee shop, quickly making his way out of sight before he could see if anyone else was in there to catch on to the interrogation. He knows Besh wouldn’t broadcast his business to the entire city, but there are ears  _ everywhere _ and his new roommate would absolutely chew his off if anyone found out right now. He sighs heavily, swallowing the hot liquid to finish off the first biscuit as he begins his walk to the city center to get to work.  _ We’re getting messy, we gotta pick up the slack.  _ He rolls his eyes at himself, knowing he can’t wholeheartedly blame her for their clumsiness in the fresh relationship considering he’s the one making a fool of himself by not covering the  _ damn hickeys _ from the night before. He smacks himself in the face and pulls his necklace down while pulling his collar up to do his best to hide them as he drags himself down the street.  _ Toph is going to bust my balls so hard when I see her. Hopefully the recruitment stuff won’t take all day, we have a hot date. _

The receptionist greets him as he trudges through the door, grabbing a newspaper from the rack next to it and he follows the pathway to his office by memory, never taking his eyes off the front page. Articles of crime and wrongdoings within Republic City deface the front page as Yakone himself is slapped right in the middle. 

_ “ **Bodegas robbed….Explosions kill three, injuring eleven….Growing concerns of crime take their toll on public transportation….Anti-bender rally surfaces in Dragon Flats borough….”** _

He groans as he sees the last one, feeling an odd sense of frustration wash over him as he thinks of the sick freaks that attacked a fire nation girl just last week because she lit a barrel of trash on fire. They claimed she was “too close to a child and tried to harm them”...she was fifteen and homeless. Last he heard, she was still under daily healing sessions because they beat her so badly and no one has even found those bastards yet. Everyone knows of the massive unrest that has sprouted since Republic City was even born, however this year just seems so...unnerving. It’s as if every day, something worse will happen and Sokka can’t help but feel as if something bad is just around the corner. 

He opens his door and stops dead in his tracks as he’s greeted by his friends and Toph’s number two, that extra biscuit feeling as if it might make a recurrence when his stomach drops to his feet. It's a Friday, usually a busy day for all of them, and there's no rational reason for them to be there. "Morning, everyone. I'm sorry I'm late for...whatever this is."

"Sokka, you have to clear your schedule for the day." He looks to Katara as she gives me a grim look and his eyebrows nearly shoot into his hairline.

“Is this an intervention? I told you guys, I haven’t gambled in almost a year,” he attempts to lighten the mood, mostly for his own sanity’s sake, as he pushes past his brother-in-law to sit at his desk as he glances around the painfully serious faces that watch him. Katara looks at him as if she may throw a chair at him and his eyes open wide as he looks to Cheng, who sits in the chair across from him avoiding eye contact all together.  _ Son of a bitch…. _ Aang catches the tension and he clears his throat to break it up a bit.

“Sokka, we don’t know how much time we have, so I’m gonna cut to the chase. When was the last time you saw Toph?” Sokka purses his lips, tearing his attention from the cop with the big freakin’ mouth as he looks up at Aang, shrugging.

“Yesterday. I got done work and we met up for a drink around the corner, you guys know this. We do it every Thursday.”

“Alright, so she was with you all last night? Do you know when she went home?”

“I mean we weren’t piss-drunk, but it was kind of late. What’s with the grilling, Aang, what’s up?” Sokka watches him struggle to swallow, the avatar’s look becoming more serious and he can feel his face go pale as he stands up from his desk. “Is she alright? What happened? What’s going on?”

“Toph never made it to work this morning, Sokka,” his head snaps to Cheng who finally speaks up and Sokka begins to feel his heartbeat in his ears.  _ You’ve gotta be kidding me. Weeks ago, we changed routine. We started staying at my place, we switch bars every other week, I swapped secretaries with Huomo! We’ve been careful, we leave at different times and we’ve never had a problem….I should’ve known. I should’ve went with her. She would’ve throttled me, but she’d be safe. Stupid, Sokka, fucking stupid.  _ “I...also may have had a slip of the tongue and told them about you two. I had to try and get a window of time for when she could’ve possibly gone missing, and clearly that wasn’t last night.” He scowls at Cheng once again as he’s pulled from his thoughts, rubbing his now-sweaty face with his hand as Katara crosses her arms over her chest.  _ Ah, there’s the look I knew I’d get,  _ he thinks as he sighs. 

“We ended up at Screeching Scorpions this week and left around one, got back to my apartment a bit after. She had to get up at four for work, she said it was an early day….I shouldn’t have let her go alone, what with the disappearances and the worm in the ranks, I should’ve fucking known better. Do you have anything yet? There are hundreds of suspects to pick through, but is there any evidence? Witnesses? A lead?”

“ _ You _ were our lead, Sokka. You saw her last, you said she was on her way to work, and I was there waiting for her from five this morning until seven when I left to talk with Aang. We don’t have anything else. I picked through her apartment, I walked up the street to the headquarters  _ twice _ , I have seen nothing. You were the only one that could have answers.” Cheng gets louder as he talks, standing from the chair as he stands toe-to-toe with Sokka, anger pooling between them and Sokka looks down at him, his fingernails biting into his palm as he clenches his fists.

“And I told you everything I know from last night into this morning. I have nothing else to give you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Sokka looks at him wide eyed as the officer’s expression hardens, balling up his fists the same way. “I’m just trying to understand why neither  _ one _ of you could’ve mentioned the change to  _ your _ house when I’m supposed to be kept up to date on these things. Me being left in the dark helps absolutely no one,  _ clearly _ .”

“You pinin’ this on me, Cheng? Are you fuckin’ serious?” Aang touches both of their shoulders to quell the argument, pushing in between them as Sokka’s nostrils flare and he tries to bury the thought of throat-punching Toph’s coworker.

“Guys, I know we’re all panicking a bit, but arguing like this is going to solve absolutely nothing. We don’t have a lot of time as it is, so Sokka, grab whatever you need here and follow us back to Appa. We need to work together instead of biting each other’s heads off.” Sokka flares his nostrils and turns around, running his hands over his head as he tries to calm himself. Of all the people to go missing, she would’ve at least put up a fight. She didn’t go quietly into _anything_. It wasn’t her style. She could be brutish, intimidating as all hell, and downright terrifying when she donned that uniform...and yet she was still taken down. There’s gotta be something somewhere, she couldn’t have just disappeared into thin air. Sokka grabs the rucksack hidden under his desk for emergencies and starts to follow the others out the door, Cheng lagging behind Aang and Katara to wait for him. He gives him an apologetic look before leading the way and Sokka returns it as they jog up the steps to the roof. 

Appa gives a very enthusiastic roar when he sees Sokka and it warms him up immediately when he pets the side of his head. The fur of his arrow is a lighter color these days, aging him a bit as Aang’s beard has aged him the last few years. Appa, however, has always been the laziest of the family and not much has changed considering he yawns when everyone begins to board the saddle. Sokka smirks as he scratches next to his nose and right as the bison whips out his tongue to slime the water tribesman, he tosses a piece of seal jerky from his bag into the beast’s mouth before climbing his leg. Their shared bond of their love for food will transcend lifetimes. Katara pulls him the last of the way up, holding onto his shoulder long enough to arouse suspicion in him and he groans as he feels the heat crawl up his neck. He can almost  _ hear  _ the conversation being formed in her head, along with the four million questions she’s going to ask, but there’s absolutely no  _ good _ time to talk about the well-kept secret between the metalbender and the head councilman.  _ Pfft, at least I thought it was well-kept, but I can let Toph tear him a new one when we find her.  _ He shakes the thought and grips the saddle tightly as they take off, staying above the rooftops. 

Katara clears her throat and touches her brother’s shoulder once more, eliciting another groan from him as he leans his elbow on his leg to support his head as he regretfully makes eye contact with her. She keeps a stern facade, but he quickly sees through it and knows she’s upset with him. He knew she would be when she found out, but he also didn’t want her to find out in this way. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he finally spits out to break up the uncomfortable silence between them and is answered with an eye roll. He pulls off of his hand, his palms in the air as he stews with aggravation. “What did you want me to do, Katara? Pour my heart out to you about her?”

“No, but I’m your sister and she’s our  _ best friend _ . I thought we were closer than this.”

“We are, things are just…complicated. It just  _ happened _ , okay? There was absolutely no good time to tell you guys. Hell, we’re still figuring it out.” He leans back on his hand once more as she crosses her arms angrily across her chest, her nostrils flaring wildly. He can see the gears begin to turn in her head as she raises an eyebrow at him.

“How long?” Now it’s Sokka’s turn to roll his eyes as he looks away from her to try and calculate how far up from the ground they are and if the diving off of Appa will kill him or not. He catches an aggravated breath escape her and he makes the same sound back at her as he runs his hand nervously through his hair.  _ I’m gonna get thrown off. I’m gonna tell her how long, and she’s gonna toss me right over….I’ll get out of the conversation though…If I stall, she'll drop it. _

“If it’s mid-spring and the equinox was a few weeks ago, then the summer solstice will be-”

“Sokka!”

“Promise you won’t be mad?” She grimaces at him, but eventually takes a deep breath and leans on her hand the same way he does. He cringes uncomfortably as he braces for impact. “Almost three months.” Her eyes widen and he closes his eyes, awaiting the smack that was sure to follow….However it never comes and instead, he hears her take another deep breath. He looks back at her, confused and she just stares at him empathetically. 

“I understand why you two kept it secret. I’m upset that you didn’t tell us right away, but I understand the need for privacy when the city is the way it is right now and I’m sorry for being self-centered.” She ends her apology with a weak smile and a touch to his knee, Sokka meeting her with a smile of his own as he touches her shoulder.

“Being a mom has made you soft-- _ OOF! _ ” And for that comment, she jabs him in the gut, getting caught by her husband and Cheng as they both laugh at the sibling argument they pretended to ignore. Sokka rubs his ribs, thinking to the kids that appear to be absent even though both parents came to City Hall. “Speaking of momming, where are the kids?”

“Back on the island with the acolytes, along with two officers Cheng picked out just in case. I wasn't going to sit by while you guys looked for Toph, so we arranged protection and the boys contacted Iroh about the situation.”

“So the White Lotus?” He questions and she gives a nod in return.

“He answered our transmission immediately and assured us he along with a few others will be on their way.”

“Thank you, Katara. Seriously,” a warm feeling wells inside of him as he looks off at the clouds. As irritating as his baby sister could be, she never once stops caring about the others around her and her comment about being “self-centered” was just her way of trying to apologize in the nicest way possible. Years ago? Oh, they would’ve argued until they were both blue in the face, but it was their nature as siblings to do so. Katara would do everything she could to be right in the end and Sokka would do anything to aggravate her as much as possible. It’s an endless cycle that has continued to go on for over twenty years now, and no doubt will continue to happen way into the afterlife. They balance each other out better than Tui and La do. He hugs her to push away the sappiness welling up in him and sighs. “Thanks for being understanding. Just, uh, do me a favor and blame it all on Officer Blabbermouth over there when we find her? I’ll never hear the end of it.” Sokka points his thumb in the direction of Cheng and he facepalms in reaction as the siblings laugh.

A slow descent brings their attention to Aang, who just points to the street below him and it dawns on them that they’ve quickly arrived at Sokka’s apartment. It was no more than a fifteen minute walk to his office, hence why he chooses to walk it every day, and the headquarters was an additional five...which is why he usually ended up there for lunch almost every day. It’s pretty much how it began in the first place. They’d switch off who ate where when the disappearances began to confuse anyone who was watching them, since it felt as if they were being watched every minute of every day. But her missing presence begins to overtake him as he realizes today was his day to drop in on her.... 

_ “And right as I was getting over there, the idiot decided to try and run! He took two steps before I threw the tiniest pebble under his foot to make him trip and he did the rest of the work.” She kicks her feet up on her desk and stabs her chopsticks back into the box to steal another bite. _

__ _ “Aw, poor guy. He’s gotta be more careful or he’ll end up seriously hurting himself. Thank the spirits you gave a him a lesson on his clumsiness."  _

_ “Mmm. I’m a selfless woman, Councilman. I do my best to help whenever and wherever I can.” She puts her hand on her chest thoughtfully and we both laugh as she nearly chokes to death on her food, hair falling wildly around her face as she lunges for her glass of water. I put my food down before I choke too and she breathes up at her hair to move it out of her eyes, unsuccessfully at that. Without even giving it a second thought, I reach across the desk and move her hair from her face, tucking it back behind her ear and I receive a soft smile along with a faint blush from her as I purposely graze my thumb a second longer than I should have to feel how soft her cheek is.  _

_ She decided to go without the headband today and she looks beautiful with her hair in a braided bun rather than her normal updo, and I’m nearly inclined to tell her. She’s my best friend, I’ve touched her before. A hug here, a punch there, it wouldn’t be viewed as  _ romantic _. She won’t read too much into it...would she? She’s your best friend, Sokka, focus. Your best friend can be beautiful, and powerful....and smell nice. I can smell the lavender and mint on her from here. “Melonlord to Snoozles, you okay?”  _

_ “Wha? Oh! Yeah, I’m fine. Just the, ehem, bull pig is spicy today.” _

_ “You don’t like spicy, I got you sesame sweet-and-sour. Plus, you’re a bad liar,” I nearly get poked in the eye by the chopstick that I assume was meant for my forehead. Shit, forgot she moved her feet off the desk. “Come oooonn, who is she?” She slides her elbow overtop of her meaningless paperwork, leaning her chin into her fist and her blank eyes look into mine with startling accuracy. Well if she thought my heart was beating out of my chest before….I look away from her and move onto stuffing my face again.  _

_ Lie, but I can’t lie. But I can’t tell her the truth either! Say it’s Suki...she’ll flip this table on me if she found out it was “on again”, the last time was the last time. We remain good friends and I promised Toph we wouldn’t cause each other more pain. I also promised her I would be happy….She doesn’t even realize she’s the one that’s kept me afloat. We aren’t kids anymore, you giant hamster. Beat around it without exactly lying. Eh, it could work. Or, grow a damn pair and tell her! She might punch me through the wall. Or she might not? Wait, why am I so nervous? Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe is  _ nervous  _ around a  _ woman?! _ Who have I become? You don’t get nervous around the ladies! The ladies love you!  _

_ But…this wasn’t just any lady. I can’t even lie to myself….And this wasn’t just any ordinary crush either. Alright, beat around it, it is.  _

_ I sigh and shrug, shoving another bite in my mouth even though I’ve lost my appetite. Thankfully, she starts to eat again too instead of burning a secret hole in my face. “It’s nothing yet, I’m more interested in her than she is me. She’s a..colleague so it might be complicated.” _

_ “And she hasn’t fallen for the smooth Sokka bullshit yet? I wanna meet her, she can join on Thursday if she wants.”  _

_ “She’s busy.” Stupid. I catch her dramatically roll her eyes as she lifts her finger and I watch her motion it in my direction, a small rock hitting me in the side of the head. “Toph!” _

_ “Don’t make me interrogate you, meathead.” _

_ “Look it’s not a big de-okay, fine. Maybe it is. Maybe I have some serious feelings for this girl. It isn’t Suki, so what’s the big deal? What’s it matter?” My question catches her off guard, stopping her mid-bite and the signature smug smile falters as I take the turn to lean in towards her. There it is! Does she…? No, we’re not kids anymore. But if she does then….Maybe if I turn it on her, HA! She can take a beating, she can dish out scathing comebacks and break a guy’s arm for passing a comment on her ass. But Toph Beifong has never been a lady that can handle being backed in a corner when it comes to feelings! Gotcha. “Oh, by the gills of Tui and La. Is Toph Beifong, our esteemed chief of police and the great inventor of metalbending  _ jealous?”  _ She snaps her head in my direction and I can almost see the tiniest bit of a blush under her eyes.  _

_ “Me? Jealous? Pfftahahaha! Of a GIRL?” She starts to laugh wickedly and I still stare at her slyly, watching her rock back in the chair. “I know I’m funny, but you may have beaten me with that one.” _

_ “You are, aren’t you? I know you better than anyone, Toph, you can’t hide from me! It all makes sense now though. You absolutely hated when I was with the girl from the fish market, and you threatened to use the stone floor to wipe Nimah’s makeup off when you were drunk that one night! You love Suki, but you had your moments around her for a bit.” _

_ “Hey, Suki is our friend so she doesn’t count. Other than her, you have terrible taste in women and you know it. To say I’m jealous of another one of your walking pair of tits is something I take great offense to and if I wasn’t so hungry, I’d throw my lunch at you.” _

_ “Insulting my exes to cover up that I’m right is getting you nowhere, Chief,” I say in a sing-song voice as I poke her in her cheek to irritate her, receiving an actual stab to the hand with the chopstick this time and I laugh as she rolls her eyes again. “Say I’m right and I’ll pay for every drink at Tado’s this week, dinner too!” She sits on that for a minute before a sneaky smirk peels across her face and she turns in the chair to sit face-to-face with me. _

_ “Tell me who the girl is and I’ll humor you.” I swallow thickly, and my mouth seems to grow dry along with my lungs as I scramble my brain to...do something. Shit. Shit fuck, she’s  _ good.  _ How in the holy hell am I winning this one? I had her too, dammit. HA, wait a minute. Better sooner rather than later, this could go so badly, but she wouldn’t believe me anyway so she’ll ignore it. Sokka wins again! Sokka-one, Toph-zero! _

_ “Eh, you might be familiar with her. About your age, probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on and definitely the funniest person I know. Funny enough, she’s an earthbender too! Leads a whole faction of them actually and she was born to lead. She’s dangerously intimidating, but it makes her ten times sexier.” Her eyes dart aimlessly around as the Toph I know is replaced by a very bewildered, red-faced new one and I see her swallow slowly as a shaky breath escapes her lips. She attempts to maintain her stone-faced demeanor as she leans on her hand, pretending to be bored. _

_ “Alright there, Loverboy, if you compliment her like that then sure, I am jealous. I will take all of the compliments that you could possibly dish and more, but I didn’t catch a name in there so I’ll take my free drinks and meal tomorrow.” She extends her open hand to me and with a leap of confidence, I take it in mine as I look up to the clock on her wall. Perfect timing. She flinches under my grasp, but she doesn’t pull away….Sokka-two, Toph-zero. _

_ “Toph Beifong.” She smirks and huffs out a laugh as she does a fake bow. _

_ “Chief of Police and metalbending connoisseur, how can I assist?” _

_ “Toph Beifong,” I say it quieter and the red breaks onto her face even more than before and I stand in my chair, gathering my things and she rips her hand from mine. I smile at her and walk around her desk, leaning down in a last-second decision to kiss her cheek as my face burns just as brightly as hers. She shakes her head harshly and makes sure to hide her face from mine. _

_ “Liar.” _

_ “You can ask your feet again if you think I’m lying, but it’ll have to be at Tido’s since I have to get back. But a deal’s a deal, so I’m buyin’. How’s six? I have a late meeting.” She doesn’t move from her seat and instead leans on her fist once more, her breath shallow and I start to walk out of the room to take my leave.  _

_ “Six is fine.” _

“Sokka,” Katara squeezes her brother’s hand to tear him from his daydream and he flinches heavily as he looks to her, her face streaked with worry. He tries to hide his worried expression as he smirks, squeezing her hand back and moves towards the avatar and lieutenant further down the street. They glance back and forth between the buildings, they inspect the sidewalks, peak through the alleyways, and so far they come up empty. It’s as if someone flew in and took her, but they all knew better. Toph wouldn’t ever, in her whole life, allow anyone to just  _ take _ her without needing to use as much force as possible. Her keen ear and her incredible feel for vibrations made up for her lack of sight ten-fold, so it wasn’t like her to just allow someone to sneak up on her. It was damn near impossible.  _ So then how the hell did she just disappear? _ Sokka does his best to rationalize the very thing he deemed impossible, attempting to walk off the thoughts and he gets almost all the way to the police station before the answer nearly smacks him in the face. 

He stops abruptly in front of the textile business two blocks away and stares at the ground, rubbing a stone brick as his blood runs cold and he can hear feet pounding against the ground towards him. “What is it?” Cheng kneels beside him and stares at the same spot, confused as Sokka shakes his head. 

“Right here, it has to be. They jumped her here.” The other two catch up and Aang touches the stone, his eyebrows knitting together and he shakes his head as Sokka did. 

“I don’t see anything, Sokka, what makes you say that?”

“I’ve walked this same street almost everyday for months now, you’d think I’d remember to not trip over the same lopsided brick by now.”

“Feels perfectly fine to me.”

“ _ Exactly _ . I went to see Toph for lunch two days ago and nearly dropped all of our food tripping in this same damn spot. So why now did they decide to fix it?” Aang jumps up, startled by the explanation as he now  _ really  _ looks at the sidewalk stretching to the station. Republic City is a few decades old now and considering the sidewalk was one of the first things to be laid down after the government buildings were established, there were cracks and imperfections that were easy to look past. There was no reason to completely fix it since it wasn’t detrimental to the actual cityscape. But the age-old cracks appear to disappear all along the entire street, stretching nearly a mile in both directions and Sokka’s eyes follow it right to business front of Hansoon’s Textile. Another building that he has walked past more times than he can count and he begins to feel increasingly unsettled as he feels as though something else is off. “There was an awning over the door of this place. And one of their flower pots is missing.” He runs over to the spot with the absent foliage, examining the ground closely to find  _ any  _ sort of clue, but only notes the crumbs of clay where it most definitely was. He rubs his fingers over the miniscule pieces of broken terracotta, holding his hand up to show Aang and they both turn their heads to the building on the scene of the crime. Or, well, lack thereof. 

“Looks like they opened at eight. I’m sure the owner would like to know someone stole his plant.” Aang says to Sokka as he waves the others over, Sokka chomping at the bit as he nears pulls the door off the hinges when they enter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for returning for chapter 2!! A bit of a longer chapter this time to hold you over.  
>  I figured a flashback to the first time he told Toph of his feelings would've been better represented from the first person so hopefully that wasn't too terrible for you guys XD


	3. Hansoon's Textiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the process of retracing Toph's steps to the station, Sokka discovers the convenient repair to the broken cobblestone path and a family business a few steps from her destination. It feels as though it's a paper-thin lead, but one lead is better than none as they seek out the owner of the shop.  
> The problem is figuring out if they have any useful information to give them to begin with.

Sokka puts a hand out to stop Aang before they get inside and confusion strikes him as he raises an eyebrow at him. “You are just about the _most_ recognizable person in the city-scratch that, the _world,_ and my sister is no better. Me and Cheng got this, you guys look around out here for anything else,” Sokka quietly explains it and he responds with an aggravated sigh. 

“You might be right. If you need anything, we’ll be here.” They nod at one another and Katara unwillingly stands beside him, but her attention is diverted when she gazes in the shop window at the kimono on a stand with water tribe markings engraved on it. Aang catches on to her interest as he checks his pocket to make sure he grabbed his coin purse. One little purchase couldn’t hurt. He glances past her to peer through the window as well to keep watch on the boys as they enter.

The strong scent of fresh cotton smacks them in the face when they waltz into the fabric shop, nearly three hundred rolls of fabric lining the walls while different styles of shirts and pants litter the shelving surrounding them. They look around for anyone to talk to, coming up empty, so Sokka decides to ring the bell on the counter and turns to inspect the blouses. His fingers glide across a nice silk one, tiny green elephant koi embroidered on a cream fabric and he smiles. He considered his eye for detail about the different nations pretty damn impressive, and he quickly picks up on the recognizable work of the earth kingdom. _Earthbenders. That would make sense. Wonder if Toph would like this shirt._

“Gentlemen! Welcome to Hansoon’s. How may we assist you today?” A smooth voice slides over to them and a small old man materializes behind the counter, smiling enthusiastically at them. Sokka eyes him up, and even though he believes he’s reading into it, he notices he’s wearing a rather thick robe for spring time. Everyone has a different “comfortable” temperature and it takes a lot to get Sokka to be cold, but he can see the sweat dewing on his forehead. 

“Oh. G’day. Are you the owner of this establishment?” Cheng says, moving forward to stand in front of the counter. The man glances down to his chest, most likely at the badge there and Cheng can almost feel his recoil. He should know the uniform isn’t going to really coax honesty out of some people, but it’s not as if he saw this day coming. Sokka catches the same thing and he stands closer to the two.

“I do indeed. Relon Hansoon, a pleasure,” he bows to them in greeting, the boys reciprocating and he glances again to the badge with a smile. A genuine smile or a smile with secrets, they can’t tell yet. “What brings you to my shop today? I assure you, officer, my permits are all up to date.” _Permits, hmm. Not a bad route._ Cheng thinks to himself and keeps an emotionless exterior.

“A property inspector sent us this way to double check that actually. A neighbor tipped them off on someone in the process of violating their permit?” he reaches into the pocket of his uniform and scans down the paper before continuing. “‘In the early morning of Friday the twelfth, Hansoon Textiles performs immediate renovations to the exterior of the building. Sidewalk stone reworked, walls refurbished by several benders. Permit to be checked, bring along a senior investigator.’” He looks to Relon and his smile falters as he noticeably bites at the inside of his lip. _Talk about thinking on your feet!_ Sokka looks at Cheng, impressed, and glances to the paper that he conveniently had. It takes everything in him to not burst out laughing when he realizes Cheng was, of course, bluffing as he read down a grocery list from his wife.

“Well, officer...oh, forgive me, I don’t believe I caught either one of your names.”

“Fao. And I’m sure you know Councilman Sokka.” 

“Officer _Fao_. Yes, I have heard of the councilor. Minor matters such as this require a state official?” He glances to the councilman and Sokka smiles proudly.

“I’m an executive collaborator for the architectural society for the city, actually. I was the only one with the time to come help out,” Sokka takes the paper from Cheng and fake-reads it. “Says here the property damage was severe, so whoever patched this place up did a pretty good job. Did you do it by yourself?” Relon shrugs humbly and swells with pride. 

“My daughters assisted their aging father, they did a majority of the work. I come from a long line of gifted benders from Ba Sing Se and I was lucky enough to pass it on to all three.” _Completely ignored the bluff, but took the bait. He didn’t deny it. Maybe keep it up with the family conversation?_

“Oh you’re all from Ba Sing Se? What brought you to the city?” Sokka asks, and immediately regrets it when he sees a sad look in his eye, but he can only think that if it has to do with Ba Sing Se, then things could’ve gone belly-up for them due to the war. Which was spiced up by the White Lotuses. _Yikes_ . _Maybe a motive there though if he has anything to do with Toph._

“Our original business was destroyed in the siege and we sought opportunity here. I don’t know how far from here you live, but there were several earthen tremors earlier this morning that resulted in the forewall of my building to begin crumbling. We had no choice but to fix it as best as we could. My awning was bent horrifically and the pot housing my peonies shattered. You are correct in that I did not follow procedure, but I will do everything I can to preserve my family’s legacy,” his expression moves from innocent to irritated as he squints at Cheng. “To be quite clear, I would much rather the scoundrels battling in the streets and destroying the city be dealt with rather than the city officials sent officers to family businesses to discuss _permits_ .” The lieutenant clenches his jaw as Relon’s voice drips with disgust, his fist clenching as he silently takes a minute to come up with a reply. It was an _almost_ believable account, but there is still something terribly unnerving about the man. For instance, why not go to the station three minutes from your store and report this? _If it was as big of an attack as it looked out there, then others could have noticed and we could find a decent lead since this one seems to not be panning out._ Cheng breathes heavily through his nose and folds the paper, returning it to its previous spot as he clenches his jaw once more. Sokka can sense his patience disappear and he stands by to watch the show. 

“Let me _be clear,_ Mr. Hansoon. I don’t buy into the story. Not for a second. Your shop took a massive hit to its infrastructure which resulted in the heavy cracks of the building, destruction of the sidewalks out front, a destroyed awning and flowerpot, all of which have seemed to be rebuilt in just a few hours by your family and your family alone? With no help? Bullshit. There was no ‘emergency renovation’, it was a _coverup._ The amount of damage outside that was cleaned up, sloppily I might add, tells me one of two things,” he leans in closer to the suspect, Hansoon doing his best to hide his expression, but the urge to fight is written all over his face. Sokka glances down at Cheng’s open hand as it hovers in front of the counter and Sokka silently braces for a move. “Multiple benders, or a massive fight against a single powerful bender that went sideways. Give me the truth here and we’ll go. Or don’t, the station is only a short walk away. Choose.” He practically glares through to Relon’s soul and Relon delivers the same look back as he folds his arms inside of his robe, shaking his head slowly. 

Being on the force for decades now has hardened Cheng and that was exactly the reason he agreed to being by Toph’s side. She knew he was able to be trusted, make the hard decisions when necessary, and could trust him to have her back in any situation, so it was very easy to say yes to her when she requested to promote him. Even when they decided it’d be best for everyone to watch over each other, it was Cheng who brought up the idea in the first place. He respects and trusts her more than anyone, and to know that they have little to go off of in order to find her fuels his rage even more as they sit in front of the scoundrel who could have all of the answers. Cheng squints his eyes at him, feeling the smallest shift in the floor and he chops at the rock that flies towards his face as Hansoon makes a break for it. 

“AANG, KATARA, BACK DOOR,” Sokka screams as they both bolt for the crook, dodging the rocks aimed for their heads and leaping over the pillars jutting from the ground at their feet as they do their best to keep up with him as he breaks into the back alley. Sokka takes a pillar to the knee and is thrown forward, his body getting covered in scrapes, but waves Cheng forward as he tries to stand.

Cheng pulls the metal from the pack on his hip, aiming for his feet and he rips them out from under him as he’s cracked in the face by a brick simultaneously, immediately falling to the ground. Without missing a beat, Sokka dodges a second brick and pulls his emergency boomerang from his pack, whipping it in his direction as Hansoon stands once more, ducking it with a laugh but is immediately shut down when it smacks him in the back. He pulls the ground from under Sokka, trapping his feet in stones and turns to take off again, but his heart nearly gives out when he’s greeted by the avatar who he slaps with a gust of air that sends him flying into a pillar he erected. Aang removes the rocks from Sokka’s feet and Katara freezes his hands to the ground to immobilize him, then turns to tend to an near-unconscious Cheng as Aang takes over the ice. 

“You nosy sacks of-” Sokka runs up on him and punches him in the jaw to debilitate him further as they finally surround him. The old man looks up at them scornfully and spits in Aang’s direction, receiving an eye-roll as a response and Sokka lifts his arm to punch him once more, but is stopped in his tracks when Cheng grabs his elbow. The bastard caught a lucky shot where the helmet couldn’t protect and Sokka winces as he takes notice of the massive purple spot already forming over his eyebrow, but doesn’t feel all too bad for him when he returns the favor by socking Hansoon in the same spot. Blood falls from the gash, blinding his one eye and he begins to laugh at them. “You have _nothing_. No evidence, no trail to follow. Arrest me, bring me to the station. There are no charges here. I will walk and it’ll be a waste of your time.” Aang snorts at him and opens his palm to start counting on his fingers.

“Well let’s see. Assault with intent to kill? Fleeing from the scene? Mmm I don’t think so.” He starts to laugh again, spitting once more towards the avatar and Cheng shoots wire at his wrists, tying it tightly and uses the excess to do the same to his ankles. He gave away too much information and then took off like a wolfbat out of a forest fire. They can all feel it in the air that he’s hiding something, and Sokka didn’t care if they had to sit out there all day, they were going to find out what it is and it’s going to be now. He may have not been as skilled as Cheng in the field of interrogation, but that’s where the lieutenant flourishes. Cheng kneels in front of Hansoon, pulling the cuffs so tight that he starts to shift uncomfortably, glaring at the cop an inch away from his face. 

“Give it up, Hansoon.” This elicits the most wildly twisted smile as he starts to chuckle to himself again. _Don’t break his jaw, don’t break his jaw, don’t break his jaw,_ Cheng starts to chant to himself as they all wait for the cocky facade to drop, but it never does. 

“You truly think I would give you anything at all after this disrespectful shakedown, Officer _Fuhan_ ?” He shakes his head, beaming as Cheng and Sokka both recoil and they’re stunned by the sudden name. _He never used his real name._ Sokka thinks as he looks to the officer whose hands are now quaking. “Why don’t you ask Pantu where your decorated police chief i—“ Sokka pounds his fist into the asshole’s mouth again and grips him up by his collar as he groans, spitting blood at him but misses. Katara grabs Sokka’s shoulder and he shrugs her off. _That’s it! He knows, he knows exactly what’s going on and what happened. He knows where she is._

“We never said anything about the chief, asshole, you played yourself! What are you hiding? Did _you_ attack her? I was wondering why you were wearing such a heavy robe,” he pulls the fabric off his shoulder and is greeted by a very deep gash in his shoulder, the shape of it unmistakably similar to that of the metal ropes the officers use. And if he was attacking one, they would’ve used it like a whip to defend themselves. _I fucking knew it._ “And look at that, _exactly_ what I thought!” He socks him again, this time to the side of the head and he hangs slumped until Sokka forces it back up to look at him. “Where is she, you piece of shit?! What did you do?” He shakes him violently and Relon laughs weakly at him, flashing him a cocky, blood-filled smile as he nods his head at Cheng. 

“Ask your friend...his _rat_ will know.” Cheng flares his nostrils and grabs Sokka’s arm to assist Katara in pulling him away, the son of a bitch still cackling. There were very few that knew about Pantu. Toph of course, Cheng, Sokka, Aang… well, and now Yakone. Yakone only knew because there was suspicion of a traitor in the police force, but it was just a rumor that spiraled from the lower ranks. Hansoon just confirmed it. 

“Who is Pantu?” Katara looks from her brother to Hansoon and back, receiving a very troubled glare from Sokka as he pulls his arm from the hands of his friends. Silence thickens between them as Cheng lets out a quiet sigh and looks at Sokka who carries the same aggravated. He finally looks at her, his face stricken with fear as he hoists Relon onto his shoulder.

“Our informant.” 

  
  


The entire precinct booms with traffic, the snakes of the press being kept at bay by the officers that litter the lobby and all of the attention is diverted to the door when Cheng walks through with a battered old man, half of team avatar closely behind. The room grows even louder when the lieutenant is swarmed by reporters, several camera flashes going off in his face and Aang does his best to divert the attention from the worn officer, however the interest isn’t on him for once.

  
“Lieutenant Fuhan, is it true the chief is MIA?”  
“Who is this man being brought into custody?”  
“Is he responsible for Chief Beifong’s disappearance?”

“Fuhan, sir, did he murder the chief?” Sokka’s head snaps to the reporter as he stupidly takes the bait and the reporter catches on as she moves onto him, her partner shoving a camera in his face. “Councilman Sokka! Councilor, sir! Do you have anything to say about the disappearance of Chief Toph Beifong? Do you suspect she is harmed?” He purses his lips and does his best to dodge her, but is immediately stopped again as the officers around him try to herd the sea of people. He sighs and turns to her, crossing his arms nonchalantly. _Lion vultures, all of them. Didn’t take them long to catch wind of it. They’re only looking for a story to impress their bosses and they don’t care whose privacy is being invaded. But people digest whatever the hell they write, so gotta choose the words carefully._

“We’re not sure of the chief’s whereabouts, we believe she’s following a private lead.” _Should’ve known the press would be around, looks bad that team avatar is here._ He mentally kicks himself as the reporter’s eyes go to slits as she squints at him.

“Well then, if that’s true, what did the man in Lieutenant Fuhan’s custody do that requires Avatar Aang, Master Katara, and yourself to be here?” At that question, the other reporters seem to quiet down as they listen intently for Sokka’s answer and before he can even come up with a decent one, they’re ushered into the back, a second officer standing in front of them to ensure no one else follows. They can’t imagine anyone would’ve kept quiet to begin with, but the speed in which it took reporters to get to the station is suspicious. Sokka tosses it around in his mind for a minute and ends up assuming that it was Yakone who underhandedly leaked it to the press. It would be the perfect distraction from his own crimes and divert all of the attention of the other officers to finding their missing chief. They need all of the help they can get, however crime is still alive and well in the city, that wasn’t going to stop just because Toph is missing. If anything, the chief being MIA would be the perfect excuse for crime to boom until she’s found. Disarray in the ranks would be a blessing. And that could very well be the reason Yakone took Toph. 

Sokka clenches his jaw as they get to an interrogation room, watching through the glass as Cheng tosses Hansoon into a chair across a table. He spits blood onto the floor, looking back at his interrogator with a smug smile and Sokka has the greatest urge to slap it off of his face, but Katara’s hand moving to grasp his arm calms him a bit. She may not have known they had started seeing each other, but Katara wasn’t blind. 

She caught the looks across the table at dinners, the way Toph’s mood would just light up when Sokka joined them, and how she was hearing about them spending more and more time together. She used to think he and Suki would marry, but the distance between them and her dedication to protecting Zuko muddied things, so it was eventually the best decision for them to split. But this was...different. She was around Toph and Sokka for years now, she knew ahead of time just how Toph felt about him, but they were young. She of course didn’t see it bleed into their adulthood and actually _become_ something. Considering she felt _something_ brewing there, she wanted to hear from Sokka and Toph themselves, but fate took a different turn. She didn’t want it to be like this….Seeing her brother like this absolutely gutted her, but she could also see just how enveloped in each other they were just from witnessing the distress he’s in. She would be the same way if it was Aang. 

Sokka continues to look forward as Cheng puts his hand on the table, the metal cuffs slamming down to it at the same time and they just stare at each other for what feels like the longest time. “How did you know about Pantu?” Cheng starts off quietly, Hansoon’s smile widening and he shrugs. 

“You can’t hide from Yakone, Lieutenant. I knew who you were the _second_ you and that buffoon walked into my store. He doesn’t blackmail and bribe every store owner like you and Beifong think. Most of us have lost a lot in the last few years and we all plan on doing exactly what I told you back there. Preserving our legacy at _any_ cost.” Cheng doesn’t give him any sign of quarter and he instead sits in the chair across from him, taking in a deep breath as they just stare at one another. Cheng then moves his hand so fast that no one has a second to realize what happened until the suspect slams his head on the table, blood falling from his gashed forehead again and he starts to seethe with rage. 

“So you would throw away your precious legacy for a crook who would drop you the _second_ he’s taken into custody? That’s going to protect your family?”

“Yakone protects those who are loyal, I am just one of the _many_ people in this shithole that work to ensure the best future possible for our children.”

“So is that what you’re gonna tell them? That their father became a criminal to ensure they have a good life, but only ended up in jail because of his own ignorance? I bet your grandkids will enjoy that story.”

“You stupid sack of--” _Bang_ . Cheng bends the metal at his wrists once more. “You think you can just go around abusing people, you overbearing, lowlife psycho? You think you’ll get away with battering _me?_! You have no idea who you’re dealing with!” At this, the lieutenant leans back to relax in the chair and he smirks at Hansoon for a moment before pushing the earth below to move his chair backwards. Hansoon moves to stand, but Cheng pulls the metal from around his ankles to wrap around the legs of the chair, pulling the cuffs downwards again to make his head lay flat on the table and he chuckles as he looks down at him. For a moment, he seemed to forget who held all of the cards within the precinct. Cheng was acting-chief until Toph returned.

And Hansoon just made things a lot more interesting. 

“Ya know. You call me a lowlife, say I won’t get away with this...but I’m acting chief as of this morning when Chief Beifong was reported MIA. You told us a lot about you today so let me share something with you. Mr. Hansoon, I wasn’t chosen to be Toph’s second-in-command just because I learned metalbending the quickest _._ No, no. I was chosen because I was the best metalbender behind her, and I happened to be raised by a man involved in the most infamous spy ring known to man,” Cheng tilts his body to the side so he can see his face, his eyes going wide and he could see the fear in them. He smiles as he leans on his elbow, letting off of the cuffs a bit so Hansoon can properly look at him, everyone on the other side of the two-way mirror stunned silent. _No way,_ Sokka stares, his mouth hanging open _._ “My father was a Dai Li agent.” 

Aang touches Sokka’s shoulder, leaning into him and he manages to shut his mouth before flies come. “Did you know?” Sokka shakes his head at he doesn’t take his eye off of the scene before him. _I should’ve caught on to how easily he can just lie and manipulate suspects. It all makes sense now though. I can’t believe Toph never told me._

“I didn’t even have an _inkling_ . Toph never mentioned it.” Sokka says, still shaking his head at the thought. They were some of the most _powerful_ earthbenders, created by Avatar Kyoshi herself and that fact alone should terrify people. According to the stories and Aang’s conversations with her, she refused to take no for an answer and wouldn’t stop until she knew what she wanted done was done. It’s no wonder she lived to be over two _hundred._ Her legacy branched off into many things, but the two biggest ones were the Kyoshi warriors and the Dai Li, both of which instill fear in an enemy when confronted by one. Considering he took a hit to the noggin, no one in the group had seen Cheng in a _real_ fight other than Toph, but now it intrigued them and Sokka wanted to see what those Dai Li agents could teach someone. 

“I was under this false impression that he was a good man, he did everything he could to ensure I knew that. I was his only child, his prodigy, so he made sure to pass on all that he knew. Earthbending mostly, but I was being brainwashed to continue his...what did you keep calling it? Ah, that’s right. His ‘ _legacy’,_ which included learning the famous Dai Li deceit tactics of lying and controlling. He once told me: ‘Strive to do what you believe is best’ before he was arrested, so that’s exactly what I did. So with a life like that, you truly believe I’m a lowlife, or _stupid_ ? Oh, but you forget that _I_ was the one who was attacked. You struck first. If I hit you without any reason to, you may have been right. I might’ve been in trouble, forced on unpaid leave until my case was dealt with. So I took a brick to the face and retaliated. I ensured Katara did the bare-minimum amount of healing to stop the bleeding to make _sure_ my officers saw where I was struck. No questions were asked at all, correct?” He smiles, smugly, the shaking man on the table released as he stares into Cheng’s eyes, but no one can tell if it’s out of confusion or fear. 

The silence in the room is so thick, no one seems to breathe and they standby waiting for the next move from either of the men in the interrogation room, but no more words seem to be exchanged. Sokka can see the calculating look all over Hansoon’s face, avoiding as much eye contact with Cheng as possible, and Cheng doesn’t seem to even pay mind to it as he throws his feet up on the table. 

It makes sense to Sokka now though. Cheng was quiet, reserved, almost antisocial when he had met him, and considering just how rambunctious their group of friends are, it was a bit different for them to have a quiet person around. But it was a ruse. He was feeling the room, analyzing the people, almost how Toph does with her feet and somehow she never told _any_ of them for years that his dad just _happens_ to be a former Dai Li agent. It wasn’t her secret to tell though, so he could understand it. It just wasn’t like her to keep secrets from him, but apparently even keeping the informant a secret wasn’t panning out either. _Who the hell was it that leaked it though? If not us, then Cheng better figure out who the traitor is and quickly._ “We will sit here for as long as we have to. You can continue to try to fool me with your false confidence and stalling, Mr. Hansoon, but I see through you. Tell me what I want to know, or I’m sure one of your daughters could join us?” Relon’s eyes nearly pop out of his head and he makes a move towards Cheng, forgetting his feet are wrapped to the chair and nearly breaks his ankles in doing so. Cheng leans back in the chair again, crossing his arms with a satisfied look on his face and Hansoon struggles to break from his restraints.

“You leave my children out of this!” 

“Oh so they have no knowledge of your ties to the underworld. I could arrange that.”

“You watch your tongue, Fuhan! Your boss is nothing but a hotheaded _child_ in way over her head and picking any fight she could. She got what was coming to her!” The air in Sokka’s lungs catches and before he can even take a step towards the door, Aang grabs his arm to stop him. Sokka tries to fight against his grip and Aang shakes his head, begging him to wait until Cheng can pick any more information from Hansoon’s brain, but the argument is futile. Cheng sees the two of them through the window on the door and he, himself, becomes angrier at the comment when he sees the look on Sokka’s face. He can’t blame him for his anger, but he knew if he let him in here, Hansoon might not walk out. _He almost caved in his skull back there, so better wrap this up before the door comes down._

“And what was coming to her, Hansoon? Where is she?”

“Hopefully at the bottom of the _bay_ where she belongs!” Cheng stands and walks around the table to stand in front of him, bending until his face is inches from his.

“Answer. My. Question. Or I swear on everything I love, I will tear through your entire store and interrogate your family until someone comes up with an answer. If I don’t get one, they’ll be brought in as your accomplices.” Hansoon’s nostrils flare as he attempts to headbutt Cheng, the metal around his feet pulled away as he flies forward and slams his stomach into the table. He grabs him by the collar of his shirt and holds him against the wall, anger pouring out of him as he hears the door handle jiggle again, but ignores it as he shakes Hansoon. “Answer me, Relon, or I promise you this will get a whole lot uglier.”

“I know nothing.” Cheng pushes him harder into the wall, his head slamming back into it and he gives Cheng an even dirtier look, but remaining silent.

“ANSWER ME!”

“FUHAN!” The door bursts open, the officer guarding the room steps in and Sokka’s close behind her, her face streaked with worry. Cheng releases Hansoon and he slinks to the floor, just lying there as he tries to find the energy to lift himself up and fails as Cheng diverts his attention to the other cop in the room. “Sorry to interrupt, but a transmission is coming over every radio in the station. They’re blocking every signal until you answer, I can’t get through to dispatch.” Cheng’s eyes widen as he bolts out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him and ripping the handle of the door off to ensure he can’t get out. Sokka and the others follow closely behind as they run through the hallways of the police station, Cheng trying to get any information he can from his subordinate while they head for his office, but they’re too far for Sokka to be able to hear anything. He feels in his bones that he might not even need to hear them for him to be able to figure out what’s going on. 

_Pantu. They’re the only one that has access to the scanners outside of the station and city hall, and they’re about the only one that can block that many signals at once. They have to know something, there’s gotta be some answers. Spirits, please let them have something on her…._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnddd welcome back again!! I just returned to work (finally) so this one took me a few days to pump out.  
> Hopefully I'll get myself on a decent update schedule!!


	4. Pantu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the radio's being jammed, Cheng cuts the interrogation of Relon Hansoon short to talk with the only person who could possibly be doing it. 
> 
> Pantu, Toph's not-so-secret informant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is WAY shorter than the rest, but I promise there's a method to the madness!!  
> Welcome back and enjoy!!

They reach the top floor, not another soul in sight except for them and Cheng leads them through a hallway to a larger metal door. Sokka feels a pit begin to form in his stomach as he starts to bubble up with anxiety, attempting to push it back but his thoughts seem to block out any other noise. He could walk this entire precinct with his eyes closed. Her absence feels like its a giant blanket, suffocating him more and more as the day goes on. He tries to shake it off as he zeroes back in on the conversation between Cheng and two other officers. He doesn’t recognize one of them, but he remembers meeting the other a few times considering her age was something to note. She has to be the youngest one on the force, but Toph wasn’t one to take in “mediocre talents”, as she so nicely put it before, so she earned her place. But spirits, his greatest weakness was remembering names. “Get Hansoon’s under lockdown immediately, toss him in a cell and make sure someone is on him twenty-four-seven,” he looks at the male officer who bows to him and turns tail to run the other way and then Cheng turns to the girl. “Riza, secure this area, absolutely  _ no one  _ gets into this wing,”  _ RIZA, THAT’S IT. I could’ve had a knife to my throat and I wouldn’t’ve remembered that….. _ Cheng barks his order and she agrees to follow it, but he can still see the reluctance all over her face.

“What do I tell the others, sir?”

“Nothing. You stay here and man your position until we come back. I’m counting on you.” Determination replaces it and she nods sharply, bowing to him as she shuts the door tightly behind them. Cheng turns to Katara and points to the door handles. “Freeze it shut.” They all turn to him, shocked at the request, but he gives her a stern look. 

“What? That’d lock us in here—”

“And there is a traitor out  _ there _ that we have  _ yet _ to nail. I don’t trust a single person outside of this hallway right now. Freeze the door, Katara.” She feels an urge to rebel against him, thinking to the growing crowd of reporters and the officers below that barely have a clue of what’s actually going on.  _ Following orders blindly. Funny, just like the Dai Li did years ago. He needs to confront them eventually, brief them...but what if this “Pantu” has her location? We can’t risk losing the transmission because someone burst in while we were on the radio. It could ruin everything.  _ She eventually complies and pulls a steady stream from the water skin on her hip, pushing it against the door as it instantly freezes shut. He gives her a weak half smile and motions for them to follow him once more to his office across the way, Sokka stopping as he glances at the office next to the lieutenant’s. 

Finding his friends waiting in his office this morning, bickering with Cheng, seeing the fixed stone, being attacked by a crazy old guy…all of the evidence gathering and chasing leads, it should’ve hit him already. But seeing the office door and knowing she’s not inside, not waiting at her desk for him to barge in with food and bad pick-up lines, made it feel real to him. 

_ My day. Chili and dumplings from Cavo, and an update from her on the Yakone case, but spirits, she hates discussing work, so I’d end up being scolded and we’d move to talk about Bumi and Kya while sneaking in a career question or two. I just wanted to know she was safe…I had one job to do until he could be convicted, all I had to do was protect her and I failed. I should have never let her leave this morning. I should’ve trapped her in bed, promised to bring her coffee and make her eggs in a rice bowl….Gotta make sure they're runny though, Sokka, or you’ll wear the plate. “If I wanted a hardboiled egg, I would've asked for one”. Pfft, just eat a raw one then. But  _ I’m _ the heathen for eating mine without hot sauce. I don’t think I’ve ever craved hot sauce more in my life now.  _ He doesn’t realize how heavy the air in his lungs seems to feel until he does breathe, biting back the tears that threaten to fall and he turns to find Cheng waiting in his doorway for him. 

He was the first one that found out anything was happening, and he’s the one that saw the daily foot traffic in and out of her office. She was a good friend to him, an incredible boss, but he can’t even begin to feel what Sokka’s feeling. He was hard on him earlier, but it was spur-of-the-moment anger. He gives him a sympathetic look as he walks towards him, receiving a squeeze to the shoulder when he passes by him to join Aang and Katara. 

The two of them gawk at the machine on his desk, wild noises and voices coming from the other end and Cheng sits at his desk as he looks at the three of them. He forgot only Sokka really got a look at the police radios and knew how they relayed orders to those working outside of the precinct, so he quickly explained to them how to work it. 

Technology was pretty new to everyone, and Katara  _ especially  _ loved having a small radio in the house to listen to music while they cooked dinner or just to grab one of the kids and start dancing around. Sadly, technology did render messenger hawks nearly obsolete, so they live out their days as retired war vets. They began to dwindle in numbers when storms took them or an enemy intercepted the letters they carried. So engineers began to pump out devices that could close distances faster than the hawks. Telegraphy was the most innovative advancement of their time, jumping humanity forward  _ years _ when they figured out they could tap buttons and send out an instant communication to other nations. Warships were being equipped with them, and as for ground-forces, the invention of a two _ - _ way radio closed distances for them as well. Touch one button here, speak into this metal contraption and the person on the  _ other _ side could react in real-time! No one thought it possible, and Toph wasn’t very quick to learn how to use it, so she  _ despised  _ it. It took all of one meeting with their secret friend to make Cheng move it to his office before she launched it out of her window. 

Cheng gets through the tech lesson so moves to fumble with the dials on the scanner, turning it until the static eventually cuts out and a strange voice calls from the other side repeating: “Fuhan, Cheng. Lieutenant of First Precinct of Republic City. If you would like your radios back, respond…. Fuhan, Cheng. Lieutenant of First Precinct of Republic City. If you would like your—”

“Fuhan, Cheng insists you quit terrorizing his precinct,” The line goes quiet and Sokka glances over to Cheng as he digs around in his pocket, pulling out a piece of paper as he stares at the machine. Sokka has never sat in a meeting with them or even heard them speak for that matter, but he can’t help but respect the hell out of them already. He only knew they were working to take down Yakone, while  _ being _ at Yakone’s side, and did everything they could to keep their identity a secret in order to continue being the rat. They were damn good at keeping that part up though. The rat within the  _ force _ , however, has thrown a few wrenches in the plans to stay steps ahead. Sokka just prays they have answers on Toph instead of criminal plans. He looks to the radio volume to ensure it’s still turned up, considering the pin-drop silence between everyone and he can see the aggravation flood Cheng’s face as he looks to the paper in his hands. “Pantu?”

“Confirmation number.” The voice answers immediately and Cheng rolls his eyes. _Oh sure, now you want to talk._ _Gotta do it their way though._

“Forty-six, A, violet, seventy-eight, two, H, Y, J.”

“Confirmed. Reports of the chief’s companions running amok in the city blew past my desk, so I assume they are in this room?” 

“Just the four of us, yes. The area is completely secured.”

“Roger. Avatar Aang, Master Katara, Councilman Sokka. An honor to be in the presence of legends.” Sokka smirks as he gets closer to the microphone.

“You apparently have made quite a name for yourself as well. Good to finally meet you.”

“Likewise. I assumed Toph informed you of our arrangement from the start. Speaking of, this isn’t a debriefing call like usual,” a grave and almost disappointed tone shows through their voice and Sokka feels an unsettling bubble form in his stomach. “I know Toph is missing, I know Yakone is the one who formulated her capture. However, Yakone knows you’re snooping around and he isn’t happy about it. His thugs are aware of the disturbance at Hansoon’s.” Katara’s eyebrows knit together as she glances to her brother who she believes is thinking the same thing.

“Well it was quite a ruckus, the old man attacked Sokka and Cheng. We did what we had to do to defend ourselves.” She gives Aang a look, but he pretends not to notice as he rubs his neck in order to avoid meeting her eyes. He can feel in his bones he should agree with Katara, but he can’t bring himself to.  _ We basically helped him destroy the back alley of his own store. We might as well have invited Yakone to the fight.  _ A sigh is heard through the speakers and Aang is grateful for a break in the tension as they look back to it.

“I’m not telling you that you  _ shouldn’t _ have. I’m telling you Yakone is on your trail and to be aware of your surroundings from now on. Toph had it right. No one travels alone, always be on guard. If we plan on locating her, we must do so discreetly.” It’s Sokka’s turn to sigh and he moves his elbow to the desk as he leans on it. 

“Not that I don’t appreciate your advice on security, but did you happen to have  _ any _ other information?” Aang looks at him and nods his head in agreement as he steps towards the radio. 

“I’m with Sokka on this. We don’t really have anything to go on.” 

“You have his illegal weapons mule within your precinct, Lieutenant,” Pantu says, gathering an array of dropped jaws and Cheng nearly dives through the desk as he stands.

“ _ Hansoon _ ?”

“Correct.” Sokka looks around the room, stunned silent and there’s not a single thought that goes through his head that isn’t self-deprecating. He kicks himself for not looking through the shop and Cheng kicks himself for not getting an  _ actual _ answer out of him. But there was no level of convincing that was working. So now they have a means to fight dirty. 

“And considering we were attacked first, we would have every means necessary to root through his belongings. What exactly are we looking for though, Pantu? Bending is enough of a threat and he pays those deadbeats good coin to use it to keep up the extortion.” 

“Not all innovations are for the greater good, as your colleagues here know,” Cheng peers around him, Sokka catching his eye and he runs his hand over hair as he appears lost in thought.  _ No shit. We peeled through an entire drill and took down a fleet of war balloons that I helped to create.  _ “They have been stockpiling crossbows carved from metal, blasting jelly, smoke grenades.” His eyes go wide as Pantu’s words snap him back to reality and he looks to Cheng who thinks the same thing. 

“They’re planning an assault.” The air in the room shifts as everyone begins to feel unsettled, Katara touching Sokka’s arm in shock and Aang leaning on the desk with both hands as they all stare deeply at the radio. It was the perfect time to attack and they knew it. Toph had been gunning for the criminals for so long now and  _ just _ as she finally gathers the evidence to put a nail in Yakone’s coffin, she vanishes. How convenient. Cheng’s eyebrows scrunch up as he and Sokka look at each other again, but he can’t find anything to say to him.  _ They had to have been planning this already,  _ he thinks, chewing his lip.  _ How did Pantu not know? _

“They think they cut the head from the body by getting Toph out of the way….I sent an order to lock it down, no one should be snooping around there for a while. We can go through his place when we’re done here. How did you not know about this ahead of time?” 

“I acquire my information from men that are two ranks below Yakone. The officer within their payroll has kept them informed, so if they had found out about me before the plans to attack the chief, they would make it their mission to have the upperhand. My advice to the four of you is to gather the intelligence you can before attempting to locate her.” Sokka glares at the radio, his knuckles turning white as he balls his fist and he shakes his head.

“So you’re saying to just sit by and let them do whatever they _want_ to her? No! No, I’m not just laying low, we’re going out and looking for her _tonight,”_ He turns to leave the room and Katara puts her hands out, trying everything she can to pour guilt into him with her eyes. He rolls his as he attempts to push by her, but she grabs his arm. Under normal circumstances, his baby sister may have worked her magic on him. She was good at playing the guilt card, and he was very good at falling for it. This wasn’t just any circumstance though and Toph wasn’t just any person. He knew she was their friend too, _but spirits, she is so much more than that_. _She can’t just be left there until we figure this out. I didn’t even get the chance to tell her...I’m finding her tonight, I’m not letting this go on for days. Screw this._ He tries to yank his arm away, but her iron grip squeezes his arm so hard, he’s sure he’ll bruise later. “Ow, Katara. Let go.”

“Sokka, don’t be so irrational. We have no clue where she is and we don’t even know where to start. You aren’t running out there and killing yourself looking for her. We can just wait and—”

“Wait and  _ what?  _ Wait and watch the city burn down? Wait and let them hurt her? Or—” he chokes on his words for a minute and has to tear his eyes away from hers. She lessens her grip a bit and Aang grabs Sokka’s shoulder, moving his head to meet Sokka’s eyes.

“We are  _ not _ gonna let that happen. I will tear every building off of the ground and search every ship at the port to find her if I have to,” Aang states with such a confidence in his voice that Sokka raises his eyebrows. “But we need more to go off of in order to even begin looking anywhere. Going in blindly is too risky and you know it.” He clenches his jaw and sighs quietly as he looks back in the direction of the scanner again.

“You got anything else for us, Pan?”

“Pan- _ tu _ . I, in fact, do if you are willing to listen now, Councilman Sokka.”

“All ears.”

“The man who runs the smoked meats store across from Hansoon’s has a dwindling loyalty to Yakone. He listens, pays his dues, yet refuses to allow his henchmen on the premises. I have it on good authority that he would be willing to discuss the person whom he saw barrel through his wall this morning,” the group exchanges glances and Sokka cracks a small smile. It isn’t much, but it’s one person who witnessed Toph be taken. One person who could at least point them in somewhat of the right direction, considering the Hansoon route fell through when, well, Cheng almost put him through the table. No way of getting him to talk, but they  _ do _ have the building on tight surveillance right now, so his family might ask questions that Cheng would be more than willing to answer. “This is all I have for today, Lieutenant. You all have a lead now, however please do not make such a spectacle of yourselves. Confirmation number for our next interaction when you are ready.” He looks around his desk, swiping a quill from it quickly as he pulls a piece of paper in front of him.

“Ready.”

“G, fifty-five, seven, T, X, ten, S, ninety-two, B. A pleasure again. Good luck.” The signal goes dead as the static fills the room and for the first time since walking into work today, Sokka felt hopeful. He knew the day quickly stretched into the afternoon, but it felt as though the day was the longest he had ever experienced in his life.  _ The meat guy will have answers. If he saw her, he knew what happened. He can fill in the blanks. I just want to know she’s…okay.  _ Sokka clenches his jaw tightly as he tries to push the thought away, Katara squeezing him arm to pull him from his head. There were a million thoughts plowing through her head too, but their focus has to be on the finding her in order to even begin piecing together where she could be.

But the issue was actually figuring out what happened to her. 


	5. In the Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the early morning, between the hours of 4:30 and 7, Toph went missing. She was a ghost in the early morning fog, and it seemed the only one with answers was Toph herself. What happened that morning?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE, A TWO-PARTER.  
> Enjoy!

The chilly breeze of a cold spring morning blows through the open window and a groan escapes from Toph as she starts to wake.  _ It is entirely too early, _ she thinks to herself as the warmth of the bed screams to hold her captive just a  _ little _ bit longer, but she knew she couldn’t let it hold her. New recruits to break in, officers to debrief, balls to bust. A day in the life of the chief. She groans again and stretches her arms from under the covers, satisfying pops coming from her shoulders as someone else’s arm snakes their way around her waist. She smiles sleepily as she’s pulled across the bed and held flush against an even warmer bare chest. It’s the mornings he acts like this that she wishes she could just disappear and hide there all day just like this. “Mmm, don’t go,” Sokka whispers into her ear, holding her a bit tighter as the cold air breezes over their bare shoulders and she rolls over to leech more warmth from him. Being enveloped in his arms and feeling the sleepy kisses on the top of her head made it even harder to leave him. 

“You make it so hard, meathead.” She says as she feels a deep, sleepy laugh bubble out of his chest and he wiggles his head lower against hers to press soft kisses to her forehead. The sweet gesture makes her face grow a bit warm and she smiles against his chest as she kisses it a few times. 

“Good, is it working?” She sighs again and shakes her head.

“Cheng doesn’t fare well with the rookies, he’s too soft.” Sokka groans deeply at her as he crushes her into his chest and Toph laughs, trying to wiggle out of his grasp but fails. He’s much bigger than her so he most definitely has the upperhand until she pulls at his chest hair and he yelps, throwing his hand over Toph’s to stop her from yanking at it. She laughs at his discomfort and wiggles her other arm out from underneath her to feel for his face, her fingers running through the thick beard on his chin. Her thumb rolling over the stubble sticking out from his jaw gives him the hint that he should shave, but she never minded it. It gave her a rough texture to follow to find his lips like she wanted to and she cups his cheek, pulling him down in a lazy kiss. 

It was so easy to fall into the habit, it was gobsmacking. It was slow, and neither of them realizes what exactly was happening until it happened. She didn’t realize just how much they wanted each other until that first kiss nearly a year ago, and even through some of the bullshit surrounding their lives, she was grateful to have agreed to dinner in the first place. It wasn’t just like any other night at the bar though, it was  _ dinner  _ dinner. Told her to dress nice, apparently he did the same, and they went to an actual restaurant instead of the usual dive bar. That night opened a door and shined a light in her life that she couldn’t imagine not being there now. They made it their mission to keep it a secret until the time was right, considering everyone’s lives were so busy between family things, work, avatar... _ stuff _ . Toph knew Katara was going to absolutely blow a gasket when she finds out it’s been this long, but she’ll get over it. She already knew what Toph was feeling, it was no mystery to Aang either. When the time is right they’ll tell them, but living in the moment and enjoying the taste of his lips was the first thing on the agenda.

They part lips, his tongue flicking hers slowly as he tangles his fingers in her bedhead and she groans into the kiss before pulling away. She feels his lips go into a pout as she kisses him softly once more. “I know what you’re doing and it isn’t working,” her lips brush against his as she talks and he starts to run his fingers softly along her bare back, eliciting soft hums from her as she closes her eyes.

“Come  _ ooonnnn _ .” He whispers against her mouth as he kisses her sensually again and her entire body shivers at the sneaky flirting, but he could play her like a dramyin, so he knew it was working. There’s something in the way he kisses her and the way her skin burns wherever his fingers touch her that was  _ incredibly _ intoxicating. Neither of them knew what this love would’ve been like, and Sokka  _ definitely  _ didn’t expect to have feelings for his best friend like this, but he was ever grateful she stopped being so hardheaded and just gave in to it. Even now, he was still trying to get her to stop being stubborn and give in, but he fights a losing battle. 

Her tongue plays with his heavily before she pulls away to bite his lip and he hugs her affectionately, but they both break into laughter when something familiar pokes her in the abdomen. He looks down at his cock and sighs, clenching his muscles to make it poke her again. She starts laughing even harder as she shakes her head, kissing his chin before making a move to finally get up, but he grabs her hand as he gasps. “Look! He’s awake too now, you’re just gonna leave him hanging?” She kneels back in the bed, finding his face and pats his cheek affectionately. 

“Take care of him yourself then, Loverboy.” She says, receiving a  _ very  _ sad groan in response but she feels his feet hit the floor as he gets up to assist her in finding her clothes from the night before. They aren’t the most... _ gentle _ couple in bed, so finding where they tossed their things was going to be a feat. She feels around for her underwear, he tosses her the bindings for her chest, and moves the opposite way to find his own clothing. Right as he gets across the room, she feels his movements stop and his heartbeat picks up as she bends to pull her pants on.  _ Always with the staring problem.  _ She smiles as she ties them to her waist and she moves her feet slightly to feel for the armor that is coincidentally across from him. She enjoyed the attention he loved to give her, especially when he forgot that she could read his body language, so torturing him was all in good fun...most of the time. Other times, she got off on it. 

She feels him make two movements towards her and she moves her foot as quickly and smoothly as possible while upturning her hand to bring the armor forwards. He takes another step forward and “ _ AH!” _ she takes Sokka’s leg out in the process. She laughs sleepily as she pulls her tanktop up off the floor and he groans at her as he lifts himself up. “Why are you the way that you are?” He says as he pulls his underwear on and crosses the room to nudge her shoulder playfully. She yawns and shrugs at him.

“You love it.”

“Correction, I love you for you. But not when you try to break my back.”

“Play your cards right and you can break  _ my  _ back later.” She makes a click sound out of the side of her cheek as she bends to find her greaves and Sokka whistles at her. She laughs and shakes her head, her entire body jumping as he smacks her ass and she turns to hit him, but he catches her hand. The aggressive flirting was one thing, but as always, Sokka has to take it a step further to make her mad. And making Toph mad was something he  _ deeply _ loved to do. He smiles as he pulls her into a hug, kissing her again and the irritation on her face softens as he holds her face in his rough hands. 

Age hasn’t quite hit her features yet, her ivory skin as soft and young as ever, but it strikes him harder just how beautiful she is with every morning he wakes up beside her. Even with the matted hair and harsh wrinkle between her brow when she hasn’t had her coffee yet, he can’t help but to stare. They waited years to grow together and he feels as though he shouldn’t lose anymore time with her. It’s the reason he felt so compelled to convince her to call out and stay with him for the day. There’s too much risk involved in her work, and he knows better than anyone that he shouldn’t worry, but there’s the smallest part of him that fears Yakone. 

There were hundreds of witnesses to the bloodbending powers he possessed and about two people that would stand trial against him, but the evidence is there. She’s  _ right  _ there, and he’s so close to being put away. She can close the case and they can live a quieter life without fearing the other doesn’t make it home one day. He kisses her forehead and runs his hands through her hair again. “Come on, I’ll walk you,” he says as he turns away from her to find a pair of pants and she stomps once on the ground to pull the chest plate in the armor along with her braces. It wraps itself around her, seemingly alive as she wills it to latch and buckle itself, but she’s gotten so used to it, she’s already searching for a comb while she finishes fitting it to her. She catches the sound of his keys jingling in his hand and remembered his offer, rolling her eyes.  _ I get it, but...ugh. Between him and Fuhan, I can’t get a thought to myself. I’m not twelve anymore, and at twelve, I was fucking throwing people through buildings. Don’t hurt his feelings, softboy might get upset. _

“Eh, I’ll be fine, get back to sleep. Take the morning off from dog walking.” 

“I don’t mind, you know that.”

“It is  _ one _ day, I promise I’ll be fine.” She can hear the tired sigh escape him as he readies himself for an argument that is entirely too early to have.

“Toph.”

“ _ Sokka.  _ I’m twenty-seven years old, and it’s just one day. We can get up early for coffee tomorrow and you can walk me  _ every _ step of the way.” She can hear the nostril-flaring as he breathes heavily through his nose and he grabs her chin between his fingers, bending down to kiss her gently. It hurts him to do so, but he eventually allows to her leave as he removes his pants once more to climb back into bed. He knows he can trust her and he knows damn well she’ll give anyone on the street a hell of a fight if they try her, but the worry is still heavy in his heart. It always was. He rolls over, allowing his exhaustion to take over once more and he falls asleep.

Toph stretches her arms out again, trying to shake off the sleepiness. It pains her to walk by Beshi’s and see the lights off because it sours her mood greatly to miss out on his coffee, considering they’ve been hitting his shop nearly everyday. She was suspect of him just by his generosity towards her at first, considering not many store owners—or citizens for that matter—were a fan of their chief, but the free coffee he offered her was always nice.  _ I think I’d kill someone for that right now _ , she thinks as she makes her way down the street, but her steps falter when she feels two heartbeats getting closer to her, and then three. 

It was early, considering there was no sun to warm her, so to have a few people walking the streets  _ and _ have it be no less than a mile away from Toph was coincidental.  _ Nothing is coincidental. Two, both pretty big but the one is definitely over three hundred pounds, the third guy is skinny but trying to slow up to keep pace with the other two. He’s the fast one. Take ‘em now or wait? Eh, there’s an alley close by, I’m not getting backed in a corner. I could take them. Are they benders? Probably.  _ She sighs as she continues to walk, but clenches her fist at her waist to feel the spool of metal in her belt.  _ Plenty in there. _

“I don’t need an escort you know. The station is over there,” she says, doing her best to point in the direction of her destination, but who knows if she fails. She hears a huff of confident laughter and just as she suspected, the biggest one speeds up behind her. He plants his back foot heavily into the ground behind him and lifts the other— _ Earthbender, knew it _ —but doesn’t get to do anything as she pulls the stone on his back foot sideways. He cries out, his ankle giving a very satisfying snap and the heat that blasts by her head surprises her as she ducks.  _ A firebender too. A triad?  _ She manages to pull a rock to elevate her and she kicks it towards the firebender as the skinny one gains on her now, leaping over his injured comrades and he takes a power stance.  _ Two earthbenders. They send two earthbenders and a weak firebender after me?  _ She scoffs as she spins the metal from its holster, slicing the boulder that flies at her and right as she aims for his feet, the metal flings to either side of him and her eyes widen. 

_ Fuck.  _

She’s yanked forward as he grips the wires, pulling her towards him and she allows the momentum to fling her into a front flip, slamming her feet on the ground when she lands. She swings the cables sideways as she aims to take him out, but he erects a pillar to gain an aerial advantage and it’s not long before the firebender notices her distraction. The vibrations that speak to her feet give the head-ups of a spinning flame barrelling at her and she slides under it, pulling a third wire from the coil and manages to catch his foot. She pulls him down, barely dodging another fireball that flies towards her and she can almost already feel the blister coming to her cheek. 

_ Two down, one t _ — _ oop, too soon. _

Toph yanks the perp towards her before the metalbender can manipulate the wires as she feels the bigger man take a power stance once more, feeling the wince in his ankle as he stands.  _ Good _ . A boulder flies at her once more, but hits his comrade instead and she smirks slyly as she pulls at the metal awning across the way. He slams to the ground when it hits his back and she bolts it hard to the ground, quickly turning her attention to the wire that flies at her. Her mind tries to figure out who the hell it is in the heat of the moment, but only brings her aggravation when she doesn’t recognize the heartbeat or the footsteps. There weren’t many metalbenders in the city, considering most of the ones Toph trained were the cops, but the rat could’ve easily taught another earthbender how to do it.  _ And then use it against me _ .  _ Asshole.  _

Toph throws up a wall to block the wire, ducking under it as she touches the ground to pull their feet below the surface and pulls both benders off balance. A flame aimed for the wall shoots to the front of the textile building she ripped the awning from and she turns her hand toward the sky to will the rogue wire towards her. She wraps it around her hand, heaving him to the side and she careens upward off of the pillar that surges under her, but her feet lift from the rock for a second too long. 

Before she can touch the ground one more, something slams into her and the aching to the entire left side of her body nearly knocks her out cold as she flies through the air. It isn’t until she feels a nearly spine-shattering pain that she realizes she flew through the front of a store, glass clanging rhythmically against the metal armor as she attempts to stand.

_ Get the fuck up, Toph, come on. Up. _ She wills herself up, her legs untrustworthy as she moves her feet along the ground to figure out her surroundings.  _ Meat shop, probably RC Meats, and holy fuck it stinks in here. That’s gotta be jerky. I’m across from Hansoon’s _ . Glass sinks its way deep into her heels, but she can find her way out as she leaps through the hole she created and she immediately feels them making their way towards her.  _ I’m not going down because of a lucky shot.  _ The sound of knuckles cracking comes from the bigger earthbender and she stands her ground, upturning her hands as she spreads her bleeding feet into the earth. “Come on, Tubby, let’s dance!” She yells and receives an angry grunt in return, dodging two boulders that fly towards her, punching one back in the direction of the smaller bender. Right as it flies at him, a rocky finger punches in the gut to take him down and she trips “Tubby” again the way she did before. He goes down and she swings metal cables out to apprehend him, but they don’t hit their mark as the firebender takes them in his hands.

“I have had  _ enough _ of your games, bitch,” he spits at her as he wraps them around one of his hand while the other seems to make a circular motion in the air. Her eyes widen as she recognizes the familiar footwork, the stance unique to a certain breed of firebenders and her heart stops. There's no mistaking the sound of electricity popping and her arm hair starts to stand up. She can’t pull the wires away fast enough and she swings her arm up to cut it, but it’s too late. 

Toph’s entire body begins to seize as the lightning surges up her metal-covered body, screaming at the burning pain taking over all of her other senses as she tries to fight the lightning entering her. Her eyes roll back in her head as she loses feelings through her entire body and she falls limp to the ground, doing everything she can to stay conscious, but she feels nothing other than electricity pulsing heavily through her body. The last thing she can remember is being thrown into the back of a truck, the numbness in her body terrifying her as the darkness overcomes her.


	6. Drowning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph finds herself in a strange place, no recollection of the night prior, however her captor immediately makes his business known as he vows to do whatever it takes to get the answer he seeks out of her.
> 
> Who is Pantu?

There was something wrong, and terrifyingly eerie about the room. It was dank, she could smell it, but she couldn’t  _ see  _ it. Regardless of the handicap she already dealt with, her feet were of no help either. Her brain felt as though it pounded against her skull and disoriented her even more as she tried to move her feet, but whatever tethered her there made them feel as though they were actively being numbed.  _ Ice? What the... _ Toph pulls at her hands and the same feeling poisons her senses as her heart hammers in her chest.  _ Where the fuck am I?  _ She attempts to wake her limbs once more and she manages to wiggle a few fingers, finally able to run a fingertip over the bitter ice encasing her hand. There were a million questions to ask, and absolutely no answers for her because she can’t figure out  _ any _ of her surroundings. She takes a deep breath and decides to focus on the scents around her, but regrets it immediately when she retches.  _ Place reeks of rotting wood and spoiled meat.  _ She gasps at the familiar scent and her blood runs cold as her fogged memory begins to clear up.

_I was on the way to work, it was so early….Woke up, Sokka tried to get me to stay in bed and I left. There was too much to do. I heard someone following me, I knew I friggin’ did….They jumped me, I_ actually _let someone jump me. Idiot...But how the hell did I end up here?_ _  
_ The searing pain that tears through her body when she moves knocks the wind out of her and a yelp escapes her as she tries to assess the damage. She felt almost naked due to the lack of security around her, meaning whoever took her here stripped her of her armor. Judging by the pain in her body though, the metal would’ve been dented _horrifically._ It was very rare for pain in _any_ form to bother her, considering she walked around without shoes a majority of her life, but there was something about the pain to her this time that told a deeper story as to what she did last night...or whenever it was. 

She struggles to swallow as even the smallest amount of movement breeds new waves of pain, doing her best to twist her hands out of the ice encasing her appendages. It was a worthless effort, considering her body fought back twice as hard from exhaustion and she focuses on her other senses once more to give her  _ some _ kind of hint. Not too far, she can hear the quietest conversation nearby and can barely make out the words, but hearing voices is enough. “Hey! HEY! Assholes!” She yells as loud as she can, her chest fighting her once more and she winces.  _ Shit, my ribs are definitely broken. All of them, probably shattered. I got hit so fucking hard…. _

There are several metal clangs and the sound of a door opening peaks Toph’s attention as she fights the ice once more. “He _ llo _ , Chief! I see we lived to see the morning. How did we sleep?” the person who enters the room mocks her and she rolls her eyes. 

“Slept like a rock.”

“Good, good. You were quite the project to tackle. Lots of bribing, a few cover-ups, maybe blackmail. Took me  _ weeks _ to formulate that. Who knew a firebender would take down the mighty Toph Beifong.”  _ Firebender?  _ Her face drops into confusion as she attempts to remember the battle, her biceps and shoulders beginning to ache at the fuzzy memory.  _ Was there a fireb _ — _ holy shit, it was a firebender. Lightening, not enough to kill me though. He came at me after I got out of the meat place, he sent bolts up my wires. Shit…. _

She huffs through her nose and a quiet laugh comes from her captor. It irks her that she can’t see the bastard, or even get a read on him. For the first time since she met the badger moles, she truly  _ felt _ blind and there was no easy way out of this. Even if the ice melted, what was she to do? Stand there with no sight until the feeling comes back to her hands and feet? Her heart starts to hammer a bit as she attempts to keep her stony expression, but a second laugh comes from the man in front of her.  _ Get closer, Chuckles, I’ll wipe the fucking grin off. _ “We won’t be together very long, Chief, and I have one job to do now. Cooperate and maybe we can wrap this up quickly?” Her eyebrows pull together and she snorts.

“And what’s that, Chuckles? Rip up the Yakone case? Bend over, I’ll file it in your back door cabinet.” He clicks disappointedly at her and Toph’s nostrils flare at the sound as her body grows so warm, she swears she could melt the ice. It gives her war flashbacks to her childhood when Lao would be disappointed in her adventures and lack of couth. 

“Scathing words for a lady. It’s only a question actually. You see, your police force has become more of a nuisance in the last few months than usual and we share a common resource. A traitor, trading secrets to the other side. I would like to know their identity.” He finishes his speech and now it’s Toph’s turn to laugh as she shakes her head.  _ Big talk for a guy in a group that can’t control their  _ own  _ rats.  _ The thing about being a cop in a world where fighting dirty was second nature, you need to fight even  _ dirtier  _ to get the win sometimes. When she was approached by the traitor in his rank, Yakone’s cult had to work a lot harder to figure out who Pantu was and clearly, it wasn’t going well. It aggravated him  _ terribly  _ to have someone so close to him tell Toph every move he was gonna make, and the last card he had up his sleeve was to make it a  _ point  _ to get the name out of the only person who could possibly know it.  _ So he scrambled together money and bodies  _ just  _ to see if I might know their real name? _

“All of this?  _ All  _ of those resources pulled together, just to find out if I know the identity of an alleged traitor?  _ Fuuucck _ you.”

“Not alleged, proven. And yes, because you  _ do  _ know. And we will get it from you.” She laughs once more, blowing her messy hair from her face as she lifts to head to, hopefully, stare at him. 

“Whadaya gonna do? Torture me?”

“Oh I plan to get the answer out by any means necessary,” his voice gets darker as he speaks and she laughs right in his face, but it’s cut short immediately when she receives a swift punch to the ribs. She cries out in pain, her entire body aching in response. He lands a second blow to the same side, harder this time and she snaps her eyes shut to attempt to block it out, but the white-hot pain overcomes her. She nearly breaks her teeth from how hard she clenches them and a laughter booms from the asshole again as he takes a fistful of hair to lift her head up. “Now, Toph. Who is Pantu?”

“D-doesn’t..ring a bell.” She still manages to force a cocky grin and is immediately greeted with knuckles across her face, her lip busting open to spill the salty blood across her tongue. It would’ve made her laugh again if it wasn’t for the throbbing in her chest, but she manages to cough one out and she hears a quiet, aggravated sigh escape him. It was almost insulting to her that anyone would think she could betray those she trusted, that she was so weak and a man of such ignorance could possibly get it out of her. “You think...my spine is  _ that  _ soft? That for a  _ minute _ , I would give you  _ anything?  _ You’re pathetic.” She throws at him and sucks on the gash on her lip. He pulls in a breath to talk once more and Toph spits a mouthful of blood in his direction, smiling when she hears the disgusted tone. The quick hand to her face surprises her, his slap making her cheek go hot and his fingers pressing hard into either side of her chin as he grabs her face infuriates her. 

It was a move Sokka made frequently when kissing Toph, electrifying the feelings deep within when they shared soft whispers into the night after a long day. It was so simple, yet just the contact would send her heart into a wild rhythm. It was the physical touch that was more romantic—almost  _ too _ romantic—than anything they shared. Now the stranger who grabbed her face caused her stomach to fill with repugnance...it was  _ defiling. _ She attempts to pull her chin free and begins to say, “Get..your  _ fucking _ hands—”

“Shut your fucking mouth. You are nothing but an  _ insolent _ ,  _ reckless child _ . You believe I wanted you here, that I wanted to deal with you?  _ Please. _ If I had it my way, you would be no more than a  _ smear _ on the pavement already! We’ve been asking the officers we have in our custody for weeks now, but they are as  _ noncompliant  _ as you are. Either we solve this now, and you give me a fucking name. Or I can inform your officers of your refusal while forcibly  _ ripping  _ it from them, reminding them their death is on  _ your _ hands,  _ Chief _ .” The offender yells, his face so close to Toph’s she can feel his hot breath on her and she tries her hardest to steady her breathing as her chest fills with apprehension. She knew Yakone’s goons were the ones responsible for the dwindling numbers on her force, and this asshole confirmed it.

It started when Xhu disappeared a month ago, no trace left behind...and then her officers suspected Seli was the “leak”, but she left behind two daughters and a husband who was distraught to hear she was missing….Every lead turned up dry and they moved the investigation into a rescue mission after they realized officers were being taken by none other than Mister Crime-Boss himself. The officers never turned up and now she knew their fate. 

But what he and his gang  _ don’t  _ know is that Toph knew who  _ both  _ leaks were. And she was the puppet master. 

An officer approached her not long ago, pride and worry threading through her as she explained to Toph that her wife had gotten deep into some sort of debt to Yakone. There was no way out of it, they had no money, they had their son’s safety to worry about and they couldn’t spare the extra officers with the kidnappings going on, so after much consideration, the two of them hatched a plan. She would pay Yakone back in the most valuable currency possible:  _ secrets. _

Pantu wasn’t the only one funneling information to Toph, and the case she built against him was right about to crash down on him...until she got wound up in this shithole.  _ Has to be coincidental, but there’s no way to tell yet. Cheng has to be looking for me by now, I know he’s gathering people to go off on a hunt and if Pantu is involved, I can’t sever that relationship yet. You’re playin’  _ my _ game now, dickface.  _ She hides her own amusement as she licks away the pooling blood on her lip once more and his hand finally disappears from her face. “Don’t you have a leech in my ass? Ask them.” There’s a pause after she speaks and the silence hangs thick between them until she eventually hears a quiet sigh.

“Unfortunately,  _ they  _ don’t even have that information. You did a good job of keeping it close to your chest, or well, close to your inner circle, that is. Rumor has it you’re very close to your so-called ‘ _ family _ ’, maybe I could start by asking Lieutenant Fuhan if he knows what his wife is having and go from there?” The blood and saliva mixture sticks in her throat as she struggles to swallow and she does her best to keep her composure, shrugging slightly.

“Fuhan? You’re gonna ask  _ Fuhan?  _ Pfft, might as well ask a child on the street then. He’s only there for a show of face, waste of your time. Oh, a boy, last I heard by the way. I’d extend the congratulations to him, but I’m a bit tied up at the moment.” She replies and he places a hand on her shoulder, the intrusion aggravating her once more as she cocks an eyebrow at him.  _ The touching is getting fucking old, this ice better melt faster. _

“For a woman with unparalleled lie-detecting abilities, you are quite the bad liar yourself. But if you insist that Fuhan is a dead end, then I could try your old war buddy,” she can hear the smile break across his face as he grips her tighter and Toph does everything she can to free her foot to kick him in the gonads. “Councilman Sokka is an easy man to get a hold of.” Toph’s unbothered exterior falters and the breathy laugh he gives makes the heat rise to her cheeks. There were whispers all over Republic City that threatened her privacy, however there was rarely any privacy to be found within the life they lead. Everyone hears the rumors or makes their own to cope with the boring life they lead, and one that swirled around for  _ years _ was the chief and the councilman rolling around in bed together. Of course, those rumors became true a little over a  _ year _ ago, but the intrusion by her enemies was far worse than any tabloid could do. She knew deep down there were eyes around every corner, however hearing it now made her feel like there was something crawling under her skin.  _ Go after him, I fucking dare you. _

“If you even go  _ near _ on him—” He steps closer and he’s nearly nose-to-nose with her as he laughs.

“What are you going to do, Toph?  _ Hit me?” _

“Ever hear the story about the  _ last _ time someone held me hostage? I’ll remember this conversation when you, your boss, and every brainwashed asshole in this building is nothing but a  _ smear _ under my fucking  _ feet.”  _ As soon as the last words leave her lips, another round of knuckles slam across her face, marking her cheek bone and she can already feel the bruise rise. Toph stalls her breathing for a moment to listen to his movements, bracing for impact once more and he pulls back to strike her. She moves her head at the last second, causing him to miss her face and she catches his wrist in her teeth. 

He cries out as blood explodes into her mouth, tearing the soft flesh away from his body as he rips his arm from her mouth. Toph laughs, a bloodied smile splitting across her face as he wails in pain, but her glory is short-lived when his fist pounds into her chest again. Over and over, the pain overcoming her as she hangs limp before him and her head feels as if it fills with water. The comatose threatens to take over as she spits his blood out and he pulls her hair to hold up her head once more. “And I will remember to give Master Katara your condolences when she’s burying her  _ brother _ .” He throws her head roughly back when he finishes and she hears him turn around to leave the room, doing everything she can to stay awake.  _ Just sta..stay awake...fuck…. _

_ “F..fuck..you….” _ Her weak words don’t even reach him as the slamming metal door announces his exit. Toph hangs there for a moment, the silence deafening her as reality begins to set it and the drowning sense of anxiety overwhelms her.  _ Sokka, fuck… I’m so sorry. Gotta...protect them though. Naomi... _ The water that sloshes around her brain overcomes her as tears fall from her eyes and she passes out with the worst feeling of drowning....that awful drowning feeling again…

  
  
  


_ Drowning..drowning...drowning…. _

  
  


_ It’s like it never friggin’ ends. It’s always dark, well, all of the time, but this was completely different. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. But I will  _ not _ go down as a pussy. The cool water splashes my toes and I dig them deeper into the sand as I grind my teeth anxiously. At least I can somewhat see in the sand, but in the water, shit….I can’t see a damn thing in there. I run my hands over my hair, pulling it from the bun and I tie the ribbon to my wrist as I breathe in the salty air to relax the rising thumping in my chest. It’s just water, Toph. You’re not afraid of a little water. Pfft! Water is nothing! Dumbass. I hear someone call my name and I immediately begin regretting my agreement in doing this. Ugh, here we go. A few days away, that’s all this was supposed to be. “Listen, meathead, I just gotta...get used to it,” I call to him before he gets too close, but it doesn’t stop him. He’s a tenacious bastard, I’ll give him that. His warm hand burns my shoulder as he touches the bareskin and I swallow hard, trying to ignore it as I focus on the water on my toes. One, two, three, four, five, tide comes in, covers my feet, one, two, three, four, five, six, tide washes back away. Why can’t I just enjoy a beach trip making sculptures and sitting in the sun? _

_ “No pressure, take your time. The lovebirds went to get some us grub so there’s no audience. Just us,” well I guess this isn’t so bad then. “It’ll be good to learn, that way you can save yourself if Suki isn’t there.” I punch him in the ribs and he laughs as I cross my arms over my chest to cover my bindings. This is so overexposing and embarrassing, but I think I hate that he’s right more than anything. They won’t always be there to cover my ass and save the blind girl from swimming...it’s just us. It’s just Sokka, he’s your best bud, he won’t judge you. Spirits, I hate this.  _

_ I sigh as I feel him move past the sand, the sound of the water splashing a bit further from me the only indicator that he moved into the ocean and I feel my throat go dry. I can do this. Just go in and flare your arms a bit, stupid. Kick your feet around maybe? I really know nothing about swimming. I hear the splashing a bit closer this time, a small wave hitting my ankles and I stiffen when I feel his hands touch my arms. “Do you trust me?”  _

_ “Do I have a choice?” He snorts and starts to move his hands down my arms, unraveling them from my chest to hold my hands.  _

_ “I will take that as a yes. I won’t let you drown, Toph, I promise.” I nod my head, struggling to swallow the anxiety that nearly causes my heart to burst, but I allow him to guide me in anyway. The cool water laps at my legs as we go further in, my sight dwindling gradually and I focus on the sound of the ocean moving around us to steady my breathing. I never needed to learn to swim, but having my feet on the blinding pathway of ice already made me so nervous, feeling the ice shatter around me almost gave me a heart attack. I don’t think I’ll ever forget how truly helpless I was that day and how handicapped I felt...and I don’t ever wanna feel like that again. My greatest strength turned out to be my greatest weakness when I’m in the ocean. “I gotcha, just a little further.” He says as he squeezes my hands tightly and I don’t realize I’m shaking until he does so. Shit.  _

_ The cold water sends goosebumps popping all over my body and I shiver as it hits my hips, feeling a sense of relief when he gives my hands another squeezing, but panic immediately replaces that when he lets go. “Sokka _ —” _ I lean forward to feel for him, my hand finding his bare chest and my face grows hot. Well that’s a lot more muscle than I thought. He laughs at me as he grabs my hand once more, holding it at a distance as he starts to back away from me.  _

_ “I’m right here. Now you just gotta lay down with your feet behind you,” LAY DOWN? In the ocean? Has he lost his fucking  _ mind _? My eyes widen at the thought and my head shakes in disapproval automatically. “That’s all swimming is, Toph. You lay down, move your arms around in a rhythm and bam! You’re swimming! Unless the Blind Bandit can’t dooo it.” _

_ “Keep it up, asshole, I’ll put you into a watery grave.” _

_ “You would have to catch me first.” Water smacks me in the face as he splashes it at me and I rip my hand from his to tie my hair in a ponytail. It’s just swimming, you got this. I reach my hands into the water, kneeling until I can feel the sand. There’s so...much. Tiny shards of what feel like seashells stab my hand, but there’s something else slimy squeezing my flesh that is almost satisfying. Seaweed? My breathing picks up as a wave passes my neck, salt covering my tongue as I try to get my bearings and fail miserably. There is no other way to learn this except to do it Sokka’s way. I groan and close my eyes tightly as I let the ocean sway me around for a minute. It’s not so bad when it’s calm and I can touch. I’d say almost relaxing if it weren’t for my impending doom creeping up on me with every wave.  _

_ The water stirs around me heavily this time and I gasp when I’m nearly toppled over by it, but realize it’s only Sokka when his hands touch my back and arm to steady me. He just sits next to me for a moment, not saying anything as he caresses my back lightly every few seconds. He could just be doing it to comfort, he one hundred percent is. He means nothing by it, he’s just trying to be nice. He has Suki, Suki’s one of your best friends. He loves her. I sigh and decide to listen to the things around me instead. Or well, try to. The crashing of the waves drown everything else out and my heart breaks into a sprint again as I grab fistfuls of sand to concentrate on something else other than the incapitating sea.  _

_ Sokka pulls away from me a bit and the water shifts around me as I feel his hands move down to my knees. I snap my head in his general direction, hoping he can see the alarm on my face, but I am ignored as he moves down to my shins. He pushes me gently and I throw a hand to his bicep as he throws my off balance. “You okay?” I toss that question around in my head for a minute and a million smartass answers fly by, but I settle for: _

_ “Do I LOOK okay?”  _

_ “Work with me here, Beifong.” _

_ “I’m trying to, but this isn’t exactly a dream of mine.” _

_ “Just lean on your hands to hold your body up. You’re practically weightless underwater and you can touch here, so if you start to get scared, just stand up,” I roll my eyes and do as he suggests, flattening my hands against the seafloor and I allow him to guide my legs up in the water as I float. Holy shit, he was right! It’s like being in the bathtub, except the stakes are higher and I could drown any minute! Alright, let’s not think about that. I’m holding myself up, my head is above water. Sokka’s right here. I’m okay, I got this. “Now kick your feet a bit and slowly crawl forward so you don’t go under.”  _

_ “This is so embarrassing.” _

_ “Eh, everyone learns at a different pace. You’re a few years late.” My first instinct is to punch him in the face, but I can’t get a feeling on where he is as the water moves around me and I flinch when he grabs both of my feet.  _

_ For the love of earthbending, he makes it so hard. We’ve always had a physical relati _ — _ poor choice of words, Toph. He’s always helped me get around and guided me when I had no clue what the hell was going on, so the touching has never bothered me. It was a childhood crush! I’m almost twenty-two years old, why the fuck am I not OVER this yet?! _

_ He squeezes them tightly, willing them to go up and down slowly in the water and I relax them to allow him to guide me. Just as he said though, I start to go forward and I plow my hands to catch my momentum, swallowing more saltwater so I slowly start to move. Wait, is this swimming? “Am I doing it?” I ask, and he chuckles behind me, releasing my feet to come next to me and his shoulder brushes mine. _

_ “You got the basics down! Now, while you’re still kicking your feet _ — _ ” he grabs my hands again, pulling them from the sand _ — _ oh fuck, absolutely not, no! “I gotcha, I gotcha! Now keep kicking your feet and move your arms like this.” I move a foot down into the sand once more to steady my body as he moves my arms in the same rhythm the fire nation trains would move. They had that same bum-duh-BUM-bum-duh-BUM when they sped up. The feeling of the thing that would push them forward to make it go faster. I don’t know much about trains, but I wouldn’t forget that pounding in the ground. It was always so damn loud. I think I...kind of have the idea down.  _

_ I pick my feet up again, kicking them slowly like he told me too while he helps me get the motion of my arms down and I start to go forward in the water. “Just like that, Toph! Yeah! Oh shit, you got it! I’ll be right in front of you, just keep doing that and swim to me.” He lets go again and I take a deep breath to relax, kicking my feet behind me as I move my arms, feeling myself move through the water a little easier. This isn’t...too hard. Actually, this is so much easier than I thought it would be. Why didn’t I learn this years ago? Ooo, helpless little blind girl, HA. This is easy! I kick a little faster, gliding through the ocean and I find Sokka’s hand again. And now, Toph Beifong fears nothing! “The mighty Blind Bandit has mastered the ancient art of swimming. Congratulations.” He says as he splashes me once more and I reach up to find the back of his head as I smile, pushing him underwater. Not like  _ he’s  _ afraid of drowning, he’ll be fine. He comes up coughing and he grabs the back of my head to do the same thing to me, but he hesitates and groans as he lets go. I would call him a coward to bust balls, but...he’s entirely too nice. Lily Liver. _

_ We swim around for a bit more until a call from the shoreline catches our attention, my heart sputtering a bit as I realize I have to find the shoreline. It’s the opposite direction we came in, which was...that way? I lay in the way for a minute as I try to catch my bearings again and Sokka notices, grabbing my shoulder again as he pulls me in the right direction. “Hey, uh...thank you, Snoozles,” I say, my face feeling a bit warm again and he breathes out the smallest laugh, but I can almost feel the smile on his face as we swim back together. _

_ “Eh, I’m paying you back for all of the ass-saving you did way back when. Besides, if you drown, who’s gonna laugh at my jokes?” We both laugh as a wave washes over us, taking me under and I immediately stand up to avoid getting any of the saltwater in my lungs. I may be able to swim now, but I will never fucking like it. The taste, the feeling of the water bouncing you around that makes you so dizzy. Who genuinely enjoys this? I put my hands on my knees as I choke on the last bit of water from my lungs and we walk up to the sand to greet Aang and Katara. “And coming in at five-feet tall, weighing twenty pounds, the Blind Bandit! Swimming champion of the Earth Kingdom!” Sokka grabs my arm and lifts it in the arm to signal my victory and I nod my head with a wide smile as they both laugh. _

_ “Got the hang of it pretty quick, huh?” Katara asks as she hands me a towel and I shrug cockily as I wrap it around myself.  _

_ “What can I say? I’m a natural.” She sighs quietly and I can almost hear the eye roll as I laugh, the boys trailing behind us as we walk up to the beach house. Hopefully we could stop back here after Grumpy’s wedding and hang here for a bit before we go back to the city. It’s so quiet and warm here….Thoughts to keep for my retiring plans. Maybe I’ll plan it for when I’m thirty, I deserve to cash in those vacation days, after all, carrying Team Avatar on my back has gotten  _ pretty  _ tiring. _

_ I throw open the door to the kitchen, immediately turning my attention to the lovely scent that wafts through the room and I nearly turn tail to kiss Katara. Coffee, already made, and ready to be poured. It’s never too hot for a cup of it. She knows me so well. I grab two mugs from the nearby counter and grab the pot, pouring a cup for Sokka as well as myself and it’s not long until I’m joined by the rest of the tribe. Katara touches my arm gently as she passes by, most likely in a “you’re welcome”, and she knows I appreciate it even if I don’t say it. Sweetness has a way of knowing what I need without me every saying it, considering the swim lessons were kinda  _ her  _ idea. There’s a lot to be thankful for...especially when it comes to these guys. Mom and Dad are trying, even through their struggles, but this is my family. “So what’re the dinner plans?” I’m pulled from the daydream as I turn my attention to the food conversation Sokka, of course starts and I shrug. _

_ “Well it could either be steamed veggies or steam veggies with a side of beef. We sent the vegetarian and the vegetarian’s wife.” I receive two sighs from the others, Sokka touching my arm to get my attention as we bump fists with a few laughs. At least he appreciates my humor.  _

_ “For your information, I did grab veggies, but they had a really nice set of ribs too, so I figured we could make a really nice dinner before we head to the capital.” Katara corrects them, receiving gasps from Sokka and I in return, my mouth filling with drool and I can taste the savory meat on my tongue. _

_“You are, without a doubt, the best sister a guy could ask for.” Sokka pretends to start crying as he leans against the counter beside me, snatching the coffee up and I hold my glass up for him to clank his against mine in celebration as we sit for a moment in silence. Everything in the last few days was an ode to our age, considering Aang and Katara talked about_ kids _on the ride up, and now we’re attending the second wedding out of our friend group. Life comes at’cha fast when you’re busy saving the world, I guess. I think I’m more surprised it took us this long to go on an actual vacation, considering the bullshit we’ve all been dealing with the last few years, but I’m grateful we could even do this….But times up for me, Suki will be here in the morning and then I’ll be on the sideli_ — _no, stupid, you weren’t even a player. There will only be Suki….I don’t know why I can’t just get past it, why am I like this? Why does he have to make it hard by standing so close to me all of the time? There’s a whole house, he can’t stand anywhere else?_ _  
__“Toph?”_

_ It’s not like he showed any interest like that...he’s just Sokka. He’s your best bud, don’t ruin it by having a stupid crush that won’t go the  _ hell _ away. _

_  
“Toph?” _

“Sokka?” The words feel so weak in Toph’s throat as she answers him, the pain slowly returning to her body as she starts to come to and she just feels like going back to sleep.  _ A fucking dream...well, memory. It was just getting good,  _ she thinks as she tries to wake her sleepy limbs, but remembers she’s trapped in the ice and she groans. The slight shuffle of footsteps alert her and she steadies her breathing to listen for more, but only hears the quiet breathing of the intruder in the room. They clear their throat as they get closer to her and she holds herself up a little straighter as she prepares for more questioning. “What do you want?”

  
“My next orders,” The familiar voice causes a smile to break across Toph’s sleepy face and a small laugh bubbles from her. 

“Naomi.”

“Chief Beifong. Glad to see you in one piece.”

“Ha, yeah you too. Tryin’ to get yourself killed?”

“I’m still the enemy, remember?” It was risky, and mostly stupid, but the chief being in the hands of the enemy has spread like wildfire, so she couldn’t just let her sit and rot. And Toph respected the hell out of her for the balls she had.  _ Well, finally someone with a pair on the force. Promotion time when this is over. _

“Shit you’re right. Well then it’d be a shame for you if the ice shattered then, wouldn’t it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, friends, thanks for coming back!!  
> Tried to keep the speed going and getting the next chapter written at a timely manner so stay tuned if youre interested!  
> As always, comments greatly appreciated <3


	7. The Werin's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't before long that the news broke about Toph's disappearance, spreading like wildfire and thankfully, gave her location up to the rat under Toph's guidance. Figuring out a way to bust her out while simultaneously fighting against an unforeseen threat from Yakone's goons overwhelmed Naomi and her only option was to seek out Team Avatar.

The issue with rescue missions when the rescuer is a double agent was _specifically_ keeping their identity a mystery to both parties and when the hostage gets away _with_ them, well....it doesn’t look too good. Toph knew this, as did her spy, so simply just shattering the restraints would jeopardize everything they’ve worked so hard for. “Water, make sure it’s hot and sneak a rag or something into it. I wiggled my fingers enough, I could probably slip out if we melt the ice a little more,” she says, attempting to wiggle her toes again to no avail, but all she needs is her hands free. “We gotta do it fast, I don’t know how useful I’ll be. I think my feet are frostbitten.”  
  
“We have a half hour before Gur gets back, and he was going to a meeting so I doubt he’ll be in a good mood when he returns.”

“‘Gur’? A man named  _ Gur  _ beat the biscuits out of me earlier? Heh, there goes my dignity.” Naomi laughs slightly as she looks her chief up and down, her heart sinking a little when she  _ really  _ looks at her. 

Blood spattered all over her clothes, bruises marking her exposed body, and just by the strain in her voice, she can imagine her chest looked horrible. Broken ribs were no joke. When she got brought in, Yakone’s new golden boys had gloated for  _ hours _ about the fight that resulted in her capture and just by the sounds of it, Naomi knew she’d have to make quick work of getting her out. Otherwise, Cheng would be sworn in as chief before they knew it. Who knows what kind of bleeding her organs were doing. She reaches to lift Toph’s undershirt, flinching when she does. “Sorry,” she grabs the edges of it, pulling it up slightly and her stomach drops to her feet.  _ Worse than I thought.  _ The black and purple splotches littering her torso made her look like a child went wild fingerpainting all over her, and they didn’t seem to just stop where her bindings lined her chest. “Chief….” She breathes out, looking to her face again and catches sight of the wound at her hairline that still seemed to be bleeding, but there was nothing she could do to remedy the situation until she knew they had a definite plan. Toph knew it too, smiling weakly at her subordinate.

“You’re married, Werin, quit your staring.” She guffaws, rolling her eyes as she lets her shirt drop.

“No offense, Chief, but you’re not my type. I’m going to go get that bucket.” Naomi turns to leave the room and she hears a soft sigh escape the captive. It’s not something just anyone is allowed to see, and she felt intrusive having to witness Toph in such a vulnerable state. No one is immortal, no matter how hard they try, and many forget that she’s human just like anyone else. Even  _ she  _ forgets that on occasion, even if she didn’t want to address it, even when she felt so weak she was embarrassed.  _ I gotta get the fuck out of here _ , the thought echoing in her head repeatedly as the door slams shut once more and she’s alone again. 

Naomi hussles out of the room, looking both ways to ensure no one catches her leaving the room as she locks the door once more. Down the hallway and to the left was the kitchens, her destination coming up on her quickly as she tries to gauge her time under the city. Knowledge was power, and she did everything she could to sponge as much information from the criminals as she could, which included memorizing the maze Yakone used to hide his secret “ _ activities”.  _ Racketeering, possession of illegal weapons, manslaughter, gang affiliation...the list goes on. 

Keeping his work down below made it easy for him to separate his felonies from his life, even though they were very much entangled, and they were closing in on a way to finally hit the kingpin with his crimes. Toph was the hammer, and Naomi was the nail. The only issue at hand was releasing Toph before Gur or his buddies get back, otherwise they’re sitting turtleducks. Naomi may have put up a decent fight against Yakone’s asshole weapons dealer and his bodyguards, but if Toph is as in as bad of shape as she appears, then they’ll end up back in that cell together. Or worse, which would most likely be the outcome for the double agent in the bloodbender’s midst. 

“...gonna be home, rally ain’t until late,” a voice echoing from a room nearby peaks her interest before she hits the kitchen and she ducks beside the doorway to eavesdrop.  _ Rally?  _

“Eh, Yuri’s a  _ lame _ anyway.”

“Shut your hole, Sanji, your girl looks like a goat gorilla. I got a kid at home, I got shit to lose. The tincans start makin’ arrests, it’s over.”

“ _ If  _ there’s tincans  _ left  _ to arrest anyone,” Naomi’s eyes nearly pop out of her head as a third, feminine voice joins in and she starts to feel sick to her stomach. There were no holidays coming up, meaning no large gatherings of people to worry about, and this is the first she was hearing of any kind of rally happening in the city.  _ Rally for what?  _ “What, no faith in the boss? Beifong’s in the hole and Fuhan is a spineless bitch! Stop being pussies.”

“I ain’t a pussy, Kell, but ya gotta admit. If this doesn’t work, we’re fucked.”  
  
“Two hundred grenades says it’s _going_ to work.”

“And what if they stop us?”

“Who says they will? They’re tryin’ to find Chief Twat, they’ll be occupied. If people die, it ain’t on my hands. So just quit your bitching and deal.” The woman bites back at her friends and there’s minor snickering afterwards, but Naomi can’t hear them over the blood pounding in her ears. The churning in her stomach gets worse as she sinks deeper into the wall and the words keep repeating in her head.  
  
_ Two hundred grenades...Hansoon, he has got to be supplying still, even after the shipwreck last week and the raid the other day. All of it, all for nothing. Shit, shit, SHIT. What do I do? I have to leave Toph behind...I have to go find the avatar and Fuhan, contact Pantu, something…. _

She takes a look back in the direction of Toph’s cell, her heart hammering quickly in her chest as the images of those bruises flood her head once more and the reality of the situation sinks heavily into her. Her superior, her mentor, now her friend, she couldn’t just leave her…But the fact of the matter was the very real decision to choose one life to save, or potentially hundreds...and as much as her loyalty burned through her to pull her back to the room with that bucket, Naomi knew she couldn’t do it.  _ She’d tell me to report it. She’d send me away.  _ Her eyebrows scrunch together harshly before she tears herself away in the opposite direction and she’s walking as quickly as she can to find the nearest exit.  _ I’m so sorry, Chief.  _

  
  


Abandoned shouldn’t have been the first word that came to her mind, but sure enough it was. It felt as though _hours_ went by, an unsettling feeling washing over her when Naomi didn’t return and Toph began to fear for her officer’s safety as time ticked by slowly. She was in deep, played the part of a disgruntled employee well and her wife racking up a few arrests sort of drove the stake in deeper to further gain Yakone’s trust. She knew how to navigate around his brainwashed followers by now, blend in when she had to, but she should’ve been back by now. _Someone must’ve seen her leave, or caught her grabbing the water. Nah, she would’ve come up with a decent cover there’s no way._ _The kid could think on her feet, maybe she took off outta here_ before _she got caught. Maybe she went to go tell Sokka….Dammit._ She attempts to swallow the feeling down, ignoring the bitter surge of pain that wells in her chest, but there was no fighting any of the pain at this point.

Her body ached terribly from the abuse dealt to it the last few days, and her heart, well....that was a different kind of pain. Sokka worried, he was always worry-wart, especially the last year when they had just begun figuring out a life together rather than a life apart and right smack in the middle of that was the Yakone case. Not only were they seeking privacy away from the tabloids, they were seeking safety away from psychos he either brainwashed or blackmailed to do his bidding and the worst were the reports of his  _ other _ means of control. Bloodbending was like the kemurikage of Republic City. Everyone feared it, mostly because they didn’t understand it, and having not been bloodbended herself, she didn’t quite understand it either. She knew of the medical implications because of Katara and without it, she wouldn’t have ever been able to jump the hospital  _ years _ into the future. Her knowledge of it was outstandingly helpful. It was also the reason they fought so hard to get it banned.

It was  _ incredibly  _ rare, but some slipped through the cracks and while attempting to learn it by watching her, it resulted in  _ many _ mistakes and  _ many  _ arrests. No one had a clue where Yakone developed his ability, and hearing the accounts from victims made Katara nearly puke one afternoon.  
  
_ “Moving against their will”, “limbs turning to jelly”, “coldest feeling they ever felt running through their veins” _ .  
  
Aang, Sokka, Katara, they all knew immediately it was bloodbending, and the worst part was that, like the kemurikage, one out of every one hundred people actually believed in it. They could barely get any witnesses to testify against him because of the fear he instilled in  _ everyone _ , and the threat of him actually being able to bend the blood within their veins was horrifying. 

The uncomfortable crawling under her skin causes her to nearly miss the sound of footsteps outside and Toph sighs with relief as the door opens. She opens her mouth to make a smartass remark, but immediately snaps it shut when her gut tells her it isn’t Naomi.  _ Too heavy of feet. She walks faster. I know those lazy steps though. Why does it smell like fried rice?  _ “Fried rice? Oh, you shouldn’t have,” she snickers, the steps getting closer and her heart rate picks up a bit when they stop. She knows he’s close, and it’s so unlike her to feel fear,  _ genuine  _ fear, but the thought of the punches to her stomach again makes her anxious. 

“You must  _ earn _ dinner, Toph. And you have done nothing to earn dinner, so I come empty handed,” the scrape of wood against the hard floor startles her as he takes a seat and she can hear him quietly tap his foot on the ground. She knew it was to entice her, because  _ fuck _ the rice smelled so good and the smallest whiff of spice make her mouth water, but it wasn’t going to work. 

“You’re going to have to try harder than that, shithead. Those peppers don’t smell spicy enough, but points for getting close.”

“Oh I’m not as huge of a fan of spice as you are, Chief, though the agent in your ranks noted the Ember Island chilis were a favorite of yours. Along with barbecued yak, but you always favored natives of the Southern Water Tribe,” She does her best to shrug her shoulders, hoping he picks up on her nonchalant front she puts on, but it seems to fail when she hears a laugh from him. 

“The Southerns cook meat better than anyone, Chuckles, I don’t see what’s funny.”

“Always trying to play stupid with me, aren’t you? The people assigned to keeping an eye on did a very good job of studying you and seeing every, well... _ angle _ of you, Ms. Beifong.” She can’t help the scrunch her eyebrows do or the crawling that her skin does once more, and she can feel an itch in her palm through the ice as his spoon scrapes the dish in his hand. She knew about the invasion of privacy already, thanks to Naomi, but being caught with your pants  _ literally  _ down gave her the worst pit in her stomach as she tried to breathe out the anger that was creeping up on her tongue.  _ Sick fucks watching through what? Windows across the street? I don’t know who is more sick, Yakone for orchestrating this, or the cuck in front of me. _

“Should’ve known a freak like you was into the cuck shit. You rub one out while watching us? What, you can’t get any yourself? Pfft can’t  _ imagine _ why.” The chair squeaks as she hears him place the dish on the floor, her chest tightening when she senses him close in on her. His fingers against her chin once more makes her blood boil as her nostrils flare and she rips her face from his hand before he can grab hold of her. “Get  _ off  _ of me, I’m still spitting up your blood from last time and I’ll fucking do it again.” She yells as she thrashes her head away from him, but he ignores her threats as he grabs her face roughing in his hands.

“Did I strike a nerve, Toph? We’re quite soft on a peasant from a shack down south. Tell me, do you think he’ll move on quickly when they find your body?”

“Empty threats, Cuckboy, you kill me and you won’t find your little leak.”

“So you know their identity then?”

“I might, or I could send you on wild mongoose lizard chase. But that’s for me to know and for you to find out,” he squeezes her face to the point where it begins to hurt and she has the greatest urge to bite him again, but the grip he has is too good this time. He gets nose-to-nose with her and her heart races as she tries to focus on  _ anything _ else other than his intrusion. She didn’t like to be touched much as it was, but  _ shit _ , if she didn’t hate it a lot before, she sure did now. Something in the back of her head screamed to thrash against his advances, that the closeness of him was something to be alarmed about and she tries to rip her face away once more, but is instead gripped up by the back of her head with his other hand. “If you sat there watching us like you said, you’d know the hair-pulling doesn’t hurt.”

“ _ Who _ is  _ Pantu _ ?”

“Bless you.” She says with a small bubble of laughter and is rewarded with a satisfying sigh of aggravation and she knows she’s under his skin.  _ Eh, annoy him enough, he might toss you out.  _ He lets go of her face and smacks her in the mouth, splitting her lip once more as he holds her hair tightly in his hand. She sucks at the cut and groans as the sting returns to her mouth, blood soaking her tongue.  _ Always with the sneaks. _

“Our little spy is much closer to you and to your boyfriend than you realize, Toph. One snap of a finger and everything you care about will go away.” She laughs directly in his face, her stomach and chest burning as she does so and she wishes desperately that she could see the look on his face.

_  
Oh she's much closer than  _ you  _ even realize. _

More papers are brought in by Riza, the shuffling of the  _ other _ pile she brought the only sound until the door shutting marks her exit and Cheng looks up at Sokka. He scribbles something onto a piece of paper, tossing the one in his other hand aside as he reaches for another and the harsh expression on his face pains the lieutenant. The visit to RC Meats went better than expected, the information Rez had proved to be invaluable and secured them a strong alliance with the gang-hater, but Sokka hasn’t felt the same since.

Cheng could feel the stress thick in the air and the image of his face after Vic told them about Toph played repeatedly in his head. He was completely distraught, and there was no helping to comfort the man who was just told the woman he loved was potentially in fatal condition. There were no words strong enough to comfort him, and something deep down tortured Cheng when he did steal a look in the councilman’s direction. However, he remained level headed, and almost  _ calm _ . There was only the push to work right now, and he didn’t know if it was genuine detective work at play, or merely a distraction. But they both knew time ticked by quickly and going through every tip that came their way in the last twenty four hours was the only option at the moment. 

Cheng looked down at the witness report in front of him, putting it in the discard pile with the rest of the meaningless documents. There were nearly a hundred of those now, and most of them a lie considering they didn’t line up with Vic’s first hand testimony.  _ They’re fudging the reports,  _ Cheng thinks as he compares the stacks of papers, the discard pile significantly outweighing the reports that were believable.  _ They’re giving false reports to slow us down.There has to be a bigger picture at hand here. It’s not just to crumble the police force, there’s no way.  _ He looks to Sokka again who rubs his tiring eyes, and he raises an eyebrow at Cheng when he sees him staring. “Sup?” 

“Do you think there’s a deeper motive?” He’s taken aback by the question and shrugs, taking a swig from his glass on the desk. 

“You’re asking  _ me _ that? Aren’t you the cop?”

“I’m not looking for a cop’s perspective on this, Sokka, this isn’t just an average kidnapping. I may be the detective here, but I’m not the one with larger-than-life crimes expertise.  _ You  _ dealt with the Yu Dao crisis,  _ you  _ helped push Cranefish Town into the right direction, and if I remember correctly  _ you _ helped stop the siege of the South by your father’s old war buddy. You don’t deal with normal crimes, so I ask again. Do you think there’s a deeper motive?” Sokka’s eyes widen as his adventures with his brother-in-law are tallied up before him, sending a string of nostalgic feelings through him, and he knows Cheng is right. “Normal” didn’t exactly follow him and his sister around like it did when they were barely teenagers, and thanks to the cracking of that iceberg, life barely had dull moments anymore. This was one of the times where Sokka wished for the dull moments normal families could endure.

Sokka takes a deep breath, weighing the sizes of the piles as Cheng did as he puts his quill down on the desk, handing Cheng the paper he’s been scratching notes onto. “Without a doubt. There are minor similarities in all of the reports, and they all mention the guys that took her. But no one is pointing a finger at Hansoon, he wasn’t involved.”

“What? His shoulder was torn up, the cuts weren’t even healed yet.”

“Had to’ve been a different altercation then. No one puts him there that night, but what all of these people  _ do  _ say goes right with you and Vic. Both of you said these guys were notorious for carrying out the big jobs and keep out of direct police interference, but yesterday was the exception because they decided to go after Toph.” 

“Yeah. The Element Battlers is what the morons call themselves. We confirmed all of that though, Vic said he saw three which matches the normal M.O and the reports that are actually true mention the trio as well. One firebender, two earthbenders, wait...‘lightning and metalbending’? Chung, the firebender, there are  _ no  _ reports of anyone seeing him bend lightning, and neither Hershel  _ nor _ Scrawl possess the mental capacity to even  _ attempt  _ metalbending.” He scans down the list of things hastily written and his eyebrows raise into his hairline when he spots “ _ decoy trio?”  _ written at the bottom of a list of names.

He didn’t recognize any of them, but he hasn’t recognized many names in the last two hours of their search for  _ anything  _ that could hint at Toph’s whereabouts after she was taken. There were mostly useless things within the papers littering the room, but this peaked Cheng’s interest as he looked back up at Sokka who scanned through the papers once more. “You think he upgraded his army?” They make eye contact and with the most stern expression he can muster, Sokka hands Cheng a single paper from the desk. 

“He would’ve had to. Toph isn’t just any threat to them. She’s  _ the  _ threat. And I think Tiegan Werin can give us some answers.” His eyes go wide as Sokka points to the name at the top of the witness statement in his hand. 

“Tiegan Werin? Wait, her wife’s a—“ Before he can get the thought out, the door swings open aggressively and another officer Sokka doesn’t know bursts in to stare at them. She opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by the swing of a metal whip that catches her wrist and she’s pulled tightly toward the exit by Riza. “Officer  _ Werin _ ?”

“Lieutenant Fuhan, sir, my deepest apologies for barging in, but it’s urgent!”

“Naomi, he secured the area, you can’t go in!” Riza shouts, pulling the metal harder to hold her but fails when the material bends in on itself and cracks as Naomi yanks her hands free to get into the office. 

“Fuhan, please! I have crucial information that you need to hear!” Naomi pleads with her superior as her fellow officer gives up on the useless restraints and grips her forearm tightly. There was something that stirred deep within his gut as he looked into the pleading eyes of his subordinate and he clenched his jaw tightly as he shook his head at Riza. She flares her nostrils before pushing the line she unraveled back into its holster and released the arm of Naomi, still holding eye contact with Cheng as he stands. “I’m sorry to barge in—” 

“Officer Werin, this wing was deliberately shut down to avoid interruption and you clearly disobeyed that.”

“And I am deeply sorry, but—“

“But  _ nothing.  _ We have a personnel check every morning at seven and as an officer of six years, I am deeply aggravated to have not seen you or received  _ any _ sort of indication that you were out actually doing your job today. Do you remember why we do a personnel check now?” The deep-seated irritation in his face makes Naomi’s heart jump and her throat dries up as she stands there, an intruder at her own job. No one knew of her escapades in the night with the enemy except Toph and she knew she couldn’t jeopardize that tie.  _ But if everyone’s dead, it won’t matter.  _ Sweat begins to dew at her forehead and she dares to steal a look at the other man in the room, her stomach going in knots when she does.

She had been around Sokka a few times, mostly at events in the city and the crowd he gathered was always too thick to get a word in edgewise. The countless stories of their glory days didn’t do any of them justice, so hearing the tales of the great heroes of the Hundred Year War wasn’t even close to knowing them in person. Sokka was said to be infuriatingly charming, his jokes were gut-busting—much to her boss’s dismay—and he knew how to command a room’s attention away from the dismal conversation from the diplomats. 

But this puffed up version of the watertribesman was nowhere near close to the man hunched over the desk full of paperwork. The exhaustion striking his face aged him ten years, and there was this sadness in his eyes that was heart wrenching. Could’ve been days since he slept, and spirits, did his body show some awful wear-and-tear. She’d act the same if her best friend was missing.  _ Tell them.  _ She takes in a deep breath as she rips her arm from Riza once more. “It’s because of me. I’m the reason you do the checks,” she replies, Sokka bolting up from his seat and every facial expression she sees across his and Cheng’s was exactly what she knew she’d see. Betrayal and rage. 

The cold metal that wraps around her wrists once more is expected and Riza pulls her tightly towards her, but right as she gets a hand around her arm, she pulls them both forward. The arresting officer loses her balance and Naomi turns to kick the door shut, keeping all five of them in the room as she now stares at five new enemies. “Here me out. Please.”

“Here you  _ out?  _ This whole time. Following up on the kidnapping leads, securing crime scenes, you even told me Yakone’s guys ‘got away’ after the last bust. All fucking  _ lies, _ ” Cheng loses his professional exterior as he spits venom into his words, getting nose-to-nose with Naomi who turns red and she tilts her chin up to hold her confidence. She had the utmost respect for her senior officer and she knew his anger was warranted. She knew he should’ve been in on the operation, but the more people that knew, the higher the risk. Now was as good a time as any. “How long, Naomi?” She’s pulled from her head as she swallows and breaks eye contact to glance at Riza, her anger matching Cheng’s, and she knew she wasn’t going to be trusted from now on. It was the risk of being the “rat”. 

“HOW LONG?” The shout in her face makes her jump and she looks back into his eyes, the hurt in them cutting her deeper than any knife could.

“Months. I’ve been doing it for months.”

“Naomi, what the  _ fuck _ !” Riza yells, pulling the metal tighter to her wrists and Naomi looks to her once more, the angry tears glossing over them. She and Riza were recruited together, even went out for drinks with the other grunts on the weekends, and Tiegan  _ loved _ when Riza came over for dinner the few times that she did. The repercussions coming down on her were going to be catastrophic, tearing nearly everything down around her and she knew that. She knew what she signed up for, but the truth had to come out. She opened her mouth to speak again, Fuhan shaking his head angrily at her as his nostrils flared until he turned towards Riza.

“Get her out of my  _ face _ . Keep a close eye on her, no one talks to her except me.”

“Cheng, wait,” Sokka finally speaks, commanding the attention of the room as he does and he doesn’t take his eyes off of Naomi’s as his face scrunches with skepticism. “Why the hell would she come all the way up here, dodging a few dozen cops and battle to get in the room with you just to admit she’s the rat? She mentioned information, so I wanna know what information she has.” Cheng’s eyes widen at Sokka, shaking his head at him with his hands in the air.  _ Please work,  _ Naomi thinks as she continues to hold his gaze and he takes slow steps in her direction before Riza puts an arm in front of him. 

“Councilman, seriously? She’s apparently been masquerading as an actual cop for  _ months _ now, so—” He grabs Riza’s arm and pushes it out of the way to get beside Cheng as they both stare at Naomi who hasn’t moved a muscle. 

“ _ Talk. _ ” Her heart hammers against her ribcage as she sighs, grateful for the show of faith, but she knows as soon as she tells them, the questions won’t end. They’ll be going around and around in circles for hours, but they don’t  _ have  _ hours.

“I can explain everything in detail later, I’m not sure how much time there is. It was Chief’s orders, I’ve been playing both sides and sabotaging from within.” Mouths fall open and Cheng’s face turns a shade of red that no one has ever seen, but he composes himself with a shake of his head as he tries to make sense of what she just said. 

“You’re telling me Beifong put you up to this? She watched her men scramble around for almost half a year, assigned partners to everyone...and this whole time, it was her who orchestrated this  _ entire _ thing.”

“Toph was pulling the strings this whole time, just to get to Yakone,” Sokka adds, he and Cheng looking at each other and he gives a shrug as he shakes his head. “I hate to say it, man, but...I believe her.”

“We were so close to nailing that asshole, but the kidnapping thing managed to get around me and I’m so sorry,” the pain in her voice cuts through Sokka and he gulps the last of his anger down as he now gives her a sympathetic look.  _ More distracted than usual, and I guess I know why now. Two rats, both digging into Yakone. She’s a fucking genius. _ “Like I said, I will explain  _ everything _ , I promise. But Yakone’s guys are planning—”

“An assault? We took the ‘nades Hansoon had, he and his buddies that were protecting them are all in the basement right now.” Sokka cuts her off and she’s taken aback by his new-found knowledge. The work Relon put into keeping his private work, well, _private_ was of utmost importance, and contacting him about weapons was kept to the upper ranks to keep the detectives at bay. There was no way of them just _stumbling_ upon an entire shipment of high-grade explosives by accident.  
  
“You raided Hansoons? How did you find out about that?”

“That’s where they attacked Beifong. The street looked suspicious so we dropped in on him for questioning and he attacked us,” Cheng’s explanation, once again, throws her and she thinks back to the raid she did  _ solo,  _ and she can’t imagine they got very many answers out of him. Stubborn like the element he bends, and he didn’t even have a clue it was her ambushing him. He just knew it was a cop.  _ That could be why he attacked them.  _ “Our guys sat on his place and happened to stumble upon crates filled to the brim.”  _ Oooof course _ .

“So you knew he was smuggling and warned  _ no one? _ ” Sokka says, folding his arms across his chest as he glares at her.

“I couldn’t just cough up information to you guys, that’s not the arrangement I had with the chief. I found his shipping manifests, all forged, figured out which ship had the weapons, and I ambushed him on Wednesday. I disguised myself, he had no clue until I attacked. I fucked up, I used my coil, he knew I was a cop. But not which one. So, uh...sorry about his quick temper I guess,” Naomi glances around the room at the wide eyes all watching her, the sweat now pooling in every place under her armor and she feels the restraints at her wrists loosen as she slips out of them. Shock quakes through her as her eyes snap to Riza behind Cheng, her face mimicking Naomi’s and she gives the slightest smirk. 

It wasn’t the reaction she expected, but it was one she was appreciated the most. Naomi’s personal issues were kept a deep secret with Toph, which is how their little alliance formed in the first place, but her greatest fear was her family discovering the rat was her. Even if she wasn’t a rat, being made out to  _ look _ like one was just as bad, and it would stain her for the rest of her life. The only one who can truly vouch for her was the one trapped in a sewage pipe. Her stomach drops as she looks to Cheng, her mind thrown back to the original reason she visited and she swallows her anxiety as she stands tall. “Anyway, grabbing the stash from Hansoon isn’t the only supply they have, they have got to be hoarding. Before I got here, I overheard talks of a rally tonight and they’re definitely squeezing Toph for information, but it’s a ruse. Divide our forces in order to use those grenades elsewhere.” Cheng’s eyebrows rise again and he rubs with chin, glancing away from her.

“Distract from the actual motive, and we played right into their hands. Do you have  _ any  _ idea where the rally is going to be?”

“Not a clue, sir. It was the first I even heard of it. I didn’t really gain  _ everyone’s _ trust down there. I had to sneak in just to check on the chief, I couldn’t risk flushing myself out yet.” Sokka steps forward suddenly and it startles her, the worried look returning to his face as he touches her arm to get her attention.

“Wait, you saw her? You know where she is? She’s alive, she’s okay?” The barrage of questions sends his heart into a frantic and she can see it in his face as she nods her head.  _ Tiegan did mention Brea heard a few enthusiastic meetings in the councilman’s office before she switched to working for Huomo. Rumors are true then. I knew it.  _ She smiles weakly as her shoulders slump, the thought of those bruises drifting by her mind and he catches the change in her demeanor. His forehead scrunches as he stares at her and says, “Is she?”

“She needs medical attention, but we can’t just go in, weapons-blazing under the city to find her. It’s not safe.”

“And if she’s hurt, she isn’t safe. If you know where she is, we’re going to get her.”

“It’s not that simp—”

“We’re getting her.”

“Sokka,” Cheng touches his arm to pull attention away from Naomi, his stern expression turning surprisingly soft and his officers look to each other in shock. He isn’t as icy as Toph is, though there weren’t many people in the world that commanded respect the way she did, but he definitely came close to it. Cold and calculating, all-business. It struck both Naomi and Riza in the strangest way seeing him be empathetic; they felt as though they were intruding on a conversation they shouldn’t be witnessing. “We need to figure out a plan first. We can’t just run in blindly.”

The councilman’s nostrils flare as he sighs loudly, removing his arm from Naomi’s as his face seems to slump into an emotionless expression. Defeat, he felt perhaps. He knew Cheng was right though, there was no getting around him on that because deep down, it was the only right decision presented at the moment.  _ One life to save hundreds....but why her life? Two separate operations, one to stop the attack and the other to save her. We can just run in and grab her, it’ll be easy. She needs medical attention, what kind of attention? She’s okay, she’s alive. She said she is. Good news, any news is good news. We just need enough time.  _ The lump that forms in his throat threatens to suffocate him as he rips his eyes from Cheng’s, clearing his throat as he sits back at the desk and the silence in the room cutsthrough the officers that sat on the outside of Toph’s circle.

Riza and Naomi glance at one another, looks of pity shared between them because they know they’d react the same way. They know they’d go through the same thing, and the flashbacks to Yakone’s threats months ago trigger Naomi’s heart to beat sporadically. The drugs, some gambling, a few gang issues, it all piled up so quickly for Tiegan and she couldn’t get it under control. But she put it behind her when she met Naomi,  _ years _ had gone by, and one baby later. But things happen, a few slip ups here and there, and before Naomi could get a handle on it, a well-dressed man flanked by two large guards banged down their door and threatened to take everything she loved if the debt wasn’t settled. So a deal was struck between them, and to see the same helpless look on his face shreds her to pieces. It wasn’t just a fling or a few hook ups, it was deeper than that, and it was  _ deeply _ evident to those in the room now. But the longer she stared at him, the more she noticed he wasn’t just sulking...he was concocting something. 

Sokka roots through several papers in silence and Cheng catches on to the hint for him to continue their work as he takes his place back at the desk. Sokka glances at him, tapping the paper in front of Cheng once more and he kicks himself for forgetting. “Naomi, I have a question,” he says, turning in his chair to face her as she comes forward. He hands the paper right to her and her eyes scan down it. There’s no missing the flush that rolls throw her face as her eyes nearly pop out of her head and she looks to Cheng as he gives her a stern look.   
  
“Why is your wife our key witness?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, life comes at ya fast in a pandemic. Welcome back again friends!! Sorry this one took a bit to pump out, but it's a bit of a longer chapter so hopefully you're not *too* mad at me. Over 800 hits on this now, which is amazing!!!
> 
> I'd love to hear more thoughts on what you think so far, of course, and I actually ended up commissioning the amazing lovelyrugbee to make me a piece to go along with the story if you guys are interested. 
> 
> I also maybe constructing a companion piece too, so stay tuned in the future (and hey, drop a follow to my tumblr if you want to) As always, thank you guys for reading, I appreciate the support <3
> 
> https://theogbeifong.tumblr.com/post/625482610172395520/


	8. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The revealed identity of the "rat" in their midst brings across new-found information that the Gaang can't ignore, so a plan is hatched to find the bombs and put an end to the threat. However, there are ulterior motives at play.

“I don’t….” The words escape Naomi’s mouth as she squeezes the paper in her hands entirely too hard, she looks to her superior. There was no explanation for why Tiegan was on the paper, one that would line up with it anyway. She knew for a  _ fact _ she was asleep the morning Toph went missing. It was so early, she was still in bed with her so there was no sense in this report. “This isn’t possible.” Cheng purses his lips as she talks, taking the paper back and scanning it for anything else that jumps out, but the entire  _ report _ jumps out.

“We went to talk to the owner of RC’s and this is the only report that completely matches with his account of the kidnapping. The descriptions of the assailants, the damage to the buildings, the attacks on Toph. It’s all here with her name on it.”

“These descriptions are entirely too detailed. Yakone’s new thugs just got thrown on the street a week ago, no one would know a thing about them.” Sokka’s eyebrows raise at that.

“New thugs?” She nods and steals the quell from Cheng’s desk, turning the paper in her hands over. She started scribbling down several names, writing each of their bending classes next to it. _ Told ya so, Cheng. I fuckin’ knew it. One Firebender, two earthbenders, explains why no one has gotten an ID on them yet. No one has a clue who they are. But that doesn’t explain Tiegan’s name.  _ “So I understand why no one has brought anyone in yet, because we were gonna look for the wrong guys, but Tiegan’s name is on this paper still.”

“Everyone said she got taken on her way to work, at four in the morning. I didn’t get up for work for another hour and a  _ half _ , and she was still asleep when I left the house. This is wrong.” Sokka watches her, his expression more and more skeptical as her chest fills with worry. 

_ There were so many false reports, this could just be one more. But this one is right on the nose….They used her wife’s name, not hers, and they knew we would specifically be looking at these. Maybe...someone else knows she’s the leak. They were leaving us breadcrumbs. Used Tiegan’s name as a threat. _ Naomi catches his demeanor change and she looks at him questioningly. “Councilman?” 

“They were leading us to you.”

“Who was?” Cheng pipes up, looking between the two of them.

“Whoever gave this report. The news was out for hours, they could’ve found out about her kidnapping and hit the streets. You had dozens of officers on the witness stuff, this one probably had no idea what your wife looked like and just took down the name.” Sokka says, glancing to Cheng and he swallows hard. He knew he was right, they only just found out about her, but whoever this person was knew they’d question Tiegan and end up at Naomi. Someone else in Republic City knew, and they weren’t in this room. 

The cold feeling that courses all the way down to her feet knocks the breath out of her as she leans on the chair Cheng sits in. Her job came with many dangers, they both knew that, and she has spent their entire relationship doing everything she could to protect Tiegan….Now it’s that same plan of protection that puts all of them in the line of fire. It was almost dinner time, she should be getting home soon, and everything in her was screaming to leave. “I’m so sorry, I have to go.”

“Naomi—” Riza starts, touching her shoulder but is quickly shrugged off when Naomi turns on her.

“My  _ wife _ and  _ son  _ are home alone, someone knows I’m the rat, and if Yakone finds out I’m here passed my normal clock-out, I can’t protect them!” Sokka stands from his seat. 

“Then we’re all leaving,” he says firmly, grabbing his bag from the ground and he starts shoving the papers inside of it. “Your family isn’t safe, so go home and pack them up. Aang’s gonna be here in a half hour to grab me. Sneak back here and we’ll all go to the island together. Then we can talk to Aang about all of... _ this _ and come back here to stop this rally or bombing, whatever is going to happen.” Her eyes go wide as he speaks and looks to her superior who nods his head, giving her the okay to go. Riza grabs her arm before she turns to leave.

“You’re not going alone. Fuhan, sir—”

“Go. Meet you back here.” Cheng interrupts her and is met with appreciative smiles before they dash from the room. He can’t help but feel his own heart sink, the deep fear beginning to grab at it as he helps Sokka clean the papers scattered around the desk. He knows he meant all of them, and even if it’s for Lun’s safety, her continuously apprehensive thoughts on the Yakone case would further drive a stake between them.

She was proud of the work he’s done to keep the city safe, but she desperately wanted him out of the job field. Their first child will be here before they know it and waiting up for him to get home safe was the burden she had to bear as the wife of the lieutenant. He knew how she felt, but it was just a conversation for later. “We can grab Lun after everyone meets back here,” Sokka says as if almost reading his mind and Cheng nods, running his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh. 

“I should debrief everyone before we head out. Himiko will take the precinct when I leave, Riza can send a wire to us if anything happens.” Sokka nods in agreement and they both stand from their seats, heading down the steps to join Toph’s subordinates. Even though a wave of worry has disappeared with the discovery of the “rat”, there’s still a need to watch each other’s backs. He may have not attacked everyone or threatened their families personally, but Yakone was playing the long game. He had a hold on everyone’s safety, and all he had to do was go for the strongest metalbender in the world. 

If he can take Toph, he can take  _ anyone _ .

Sokka buries the thought as his eyes widen at the tornado of people within the precinct. Detectives dashing between desks, officers forcing reporters back outside, and the slew of criminals being brought in one after another. It was nearly closing time for first shift, and lucky enough, Cheng catches that at least a majority of Toph’s charges are within the building. They all knew by now what was going on, but in the event they all thought  _ impossible _ , no one had any clue what exactly they were doing or what they were looking for.  _ Running in blind,  _ Sokka thinks to himself.  _ Oh, the irony.  _ Cheng sticks his thumb and pointer finger into the corners of his mouth and a loud whistle echoes through the building to grab everyone’s attention.

Almost as if by magic, everyone stops what they're doing to look at the interim chief on the staircase. He clears his throat as he folds his hands behind his back. “Evening all. I know it has been a very hectic two days and I apologize for the lack of leadership by myself. Nothing could’ve prepared any of us for this,” Sokka pulls his gaze from Cheng and his heart sinks once more as he looks out to the crowd. A hundred faces, all holding onto his every word, and all equally as worried about their missing chief. It should fill him with appreciation to see the loyalty they had to Toph, but it only brings grief.  _ No one has any idea what to do _ .

“I know we’re all working around-the-clock to find out anything we can, and it does not go unnoticed. I am in debt to all of you and your hard work will pay off, I promise. Sergeant Shin will be in command for second shift, please report to him with anything you find. Every little bit helps, even if it’s something small. Yakone may look at us as inferior to him, but he has no idea what police force he just fucked with. We’re going to get our chief back, and she’s gonna put that bloodbending son of a bitch in a hole for the rest of time.” The thunderous applause and whistles bring a smile to both Cheng and Sokka as a short, stocky man approaches them with a smile. He bows, Cheng returning the greeting as he joins them on the staircase.

“Did Toph take over for a second, Fuhan?” Sokka stares at him for a second before recognizing the small man as Himiko Shin, the only man around the precinct who somewhat balances the place out. Toph rules with an iron fist and sharp tongue, Cheng is a bit dour and grumpy, and Kimiko is smack in between them. Crime doesn’t sleep, and with the nights being busier than the days, the sergeant brings a welcomed brightness to the otherwise-gloomy shift.

“Just trying to lift some spirits,” Cheng shoots back at him. “I’m sorry to leave so abruptly today.” Himiko shakes his head at him and offers a small, pitying smile to him and Sokka.

“Understandable. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you, extend the sentiment to the avatar and his family as well for me please.”

“Will do. There are other things to take care of, I’ll fill you in when I get back, but for now, have two larger patrols out on the street tonight. Everyone is on high alert here, and prioritize City Hall.” The men all bow to one another, Cheng and Sokka turning to ascend the staircase once more. He was a kind man, but in a time where no one can be trusted, there was always going to be a small voice in the back of their heads that told them to accept his kindness with caution. Shin was also not someone to be trifled with in a fight, he was the sergeant for a good reason. 

It wasn’t long before the shaking building announced the avatar’s arrival, the roar of the bison bringing a small smile to Sokka’s lips. They gather their things, the remaining papers getting tossed into a random drawer of the desk. Spending the night with his sister and her family would be a welcomed distraction from the melancholy world surrounding him, but as always, life was bittersweet. His niece and nephew were shared with Toph, and even though he was the fun uncle, Auntie Toph was well-loved too. If Sokka was on the island, so was she, and the first question out of their mouths is going to be about her. 

How do you even begin to explain a situation like this to children?  _ Aang did it in his monk-way, or shit, I really hope he did. Boom’s gonna ask me anyway, I know it.  _ He sighs as they scale the steps to the rooftop, finally reaching the top and they wave to his brother-in-law when they throw open the door. The island is the safest place they could be, housed with the strongest benders and protected on all sides by water. They just had to get Cheng and Naomi’s family there safely, and then plan a course of action. Whether they knew it or not, Sokka already planned to go looking for the chief. She wasn’t spending another day down there.

  
  
  
  


“UNCLE  _ SOOKKAAAA!”  _ He barely slides halfway down Appa’s leg before two screaming children come barreling out of the house to greet their guests, a chubby Momo lulling in the air behind them. His feet hit the ground and he’s nearly tackled with hugs as he lifts them both in his arms. He doesn’t see them as much as he wished he did, and him being there every day would drive his sister nuts, but she loved the relationship he had with her kids. They even tried to get him to move in at first, but “a man needs his space” was the answer she received to her hospitality. 

Sokka sets them both down, the lemur landing on his shoulder and he gives him a few affectionate scratches under his chin as he smiles. “Momo, age has gotten to you, buddy. Lookin’ like Iroh with the food baby,” he pokes his tummy, receiving angry chatters and face-pushes before he ditches Sokka for the avatar. He wasn’t wrong though, Momo  _ has  _ gotten lazy and fat since they settled down, mostly because he enjoys a life of laying around and eating all day. The kids also egg  _ that _ behavior on by sneaking him scraps. 

Sokka smiles when he catches the shaking head of Aang at him and they gather up the luggage to head inside, but a  _ very _ motion-sick Lun lags behind with her husband.  _ Pfft. First-timers.  _ He glances back to them and catches sight of her swollen belly.  _ IDIOT, Tui and La, she’s friggin’ pregnant. _ He smacks himself in the forehead discreetly as he holds the door open to let them in first.

The fresh smell of barbecued meat and vegetables makes his mouth water as he’s immediately drawn into the kitchen. His eyes nearly pop out of his head at the amount of food they’ve slaved over, and the curious part was she had no idea they had guests yet. The only guest Katara knew she was housing was Sokka, but feeding him was like feeding a small army to begin with. She and Aang had really become warriors in the kitchen in the last few years, and if it wasn’t for a ridiculous schedule, he’d eat on the island every day because there was  _ nothing _ better than their cooking. 

There’s nearly a tragedy when Katara is startled by her brother in the doorway, the tray in her hands shaking violently and Sokka dives to help her steady it. “Spirits, Sokka!” He laughs and takes the dish from her, placing it on the counter as he kisses her cheek. “No ‘hi, hello’? Just gonna stand there like a creep?” 

“Sorry, I was distracted. Lotta food you have there.” She snorts and starts handing him trays, leading him into the dining room as they set up for supper. Voices starts to echo into the room and her eyebrows touch as she looks to her brother and he gives her a sheepish grin. “Oh, uh. You have guests, by the way. Forgot to mention that.”

“Who?”

“Mommy, look! This is Dezi! His mommies are friends with Uncle Sokka and he said he wanted to be my friend!” Kya is the first to enter the room, dragging a very shy child behind her by the hand and he hides from Katara who is still  _ immensely _ confused by the increasing number of people in her house. They had dignitaries from time to time, and of course their friends stayed when they were in Republic City, but she also  _ knew _ when all of those people would be crashing there. As the room filled, she could only pick out Cheng and Lun, and she desperately hoped she made enough food.

Aang encourages everyone to crowd around the table, dishes were passed around the group, and the thick aura of discomfort began to melt as food was passed around. Naomi and Tiegan politely rejected, insisting they had an early dinner, but Sokka knew it was a lie and he just couldn’t stop watching them quietly talk back and forth. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, he didn’t want to, but the fear on Naomi’s face said it all. He could see Tiegan rubbing her arm and squeezing her hand, but there wasn’t much she was doing that was remedying the situation. 

He knew though. He could feel that _same_ pit, that _same_ nauseating worry that made his appetite shrivel up and die. Every second that ticked by made his skin crawl because he knew it was a second longer she was missing, and ever since they talked to Vic, Sokka found himself dwelling on it even more. _Electrocuted...had to have been a firebender, there were no busted powerlines. All of that metal armor, it would’ve conducted it, but she has her clothes underneath, maybe they protected her. If it’s information that cocksucker wants, he won’t kill her._ _Naomi knows where she is, we’re gonna get her tonight. They’re torturing her, Tui and La, I_ —He blinks hard to push the thoughts back and forces pork into his mouth, ignoring the look his sibling is giving him across the table. 

She was going through the same thought process and it was blatantly obvious as to why. Toph wasn’t just his, she was their family too. Being the youngest in the merry band of misfits had irked her for a long time, but she was always irked when someone gave too much of a shit about her wellbeing. Becoming the chief of police has taken its toll on her, and everyone in their little family knew it. This was going to be the straw that broke the ostrich horse’s back, and it didn’t matter how much convincing it was going to take, Sokka was gonna lean on her to get her out of this life. Not retirement, but spirits,  _ something _ to get her away for a while. 

The plates began to clear and the food grew sparse, tiny little yawns sound off from the corners of the table. “Bumi, why don’t you take your sister and Dezi to go play?” Katara says to her oldest and she’s surprisingly met with no defiance as he urges the others to leave the room with him. He wasn’t the most obedient child, but he didn’t need to be either. He had that same fire Sokka did as a kid, but he also enjoyed being lazy when he was sleepy. “It’s been a while since we had a full house, and I love having that again. But I would’ve been a bit more hospitable if I had known.” Katara continues, glancing to Aang who sighs.

“It was very last minute, sweetie, I’m sorry. Something’s come up, Sokka started to explain on the ride here, but he knows more than me.” The avatar looks to his brother-in-law across the table and suddenly, his throat grows dry as everyone looks to him for his explanation. He got over the stage fright  _ years _ ago, considering he was on the council now, but this was bigger than all of them, and it was terrifying to put it into words. He starts by clearly his throat, and the words spill out like vomit.

He noted the glare Katara shoots to Naomi, but is quickly glossed over when Sokka explains it was Toph who put the rat stuff into motion. They had only just found everything out hours ago and he was still piecing the thoughts together too, so he can’t imagine Katara understood any of this better than he did. 

Lun’s eyebrows seem to pull together closer and closer the more he spoke, her hand creeping up onto her belly as if protecting their unborn son within. Cheng has mentioned before to avoid some topics around his wife when she would join them for dinner, but it was definitely the most evident right now how she felt about her husband’s line of work. At the time, Sokka would roll his eyes, but he gets her aversion now. He could already hear the argument between them boiling in his head when he suggests his “personal leave” idea to her.

“So no one has any idea when or where these bombs are going to be set off?” Lun says snippily, her amber eyes full of aggravation as she deliberately ignores her husband attempting to hold her hand. It was uncomfortable to watch, but poking the angry pregnant lady was a big no-no, as Sokka has learned. He bites the inside of his cheek for a moment to try and come up with a not-so-blunt answer as “no”.

“If they have as many explosives as I was led to believe, they’re leaving a mark.” Naomi finally pipes up and every eye in the room shots to her as she stands. “They have Toph, and if she’s not there to defend the precinct and we’re all here, then that would be my first guess.” The grave look that clouds over Cheng startles the room as he stands. The flick of his hand summons his armor in his direction as Sokka also stands, taking the hint that  _ maybe _ they should make the trip back to the mainland. 

“Then we need to get there  _ now _ . Tiegan and Lun will be with the acolytes and the kids, Katara—“

“I’m staying here,” she says, her abrupt answer catching him off guard as his face twists in confusion. “If it isn’t the police station or town hall, then what’s the only other place they could make a statement with by bombing? I’ll guard the island.” It sent a strong wave of anxiety through his heart, and his first thought is that Toph would immediately call him out for it, but Sokka knew his sister was right. She was the strongest waterbender out there, even toppling Aang, so leaving her to defend the island if she had to was the best option.  _ Get to the city, get an update from Riza Whateverherlastnameis, update Katara, and….Shit.  _

They really didn’t have a solid plan, but that could always be figured out on the way there. Yakone may be aggravated with law enforcement and extortion was his superpower, but terrorism…something just didn’t sit well with Sokka. It wasn’t his MO, but getting rid of the thorn in his side was something he most definitely dreamed of. Toph had been on a roll squashing his operations and the death threats became more frequent, but it wasn’t anything she “couldn’t handle”. She repeated that like a damn mantra lately. Her confidence was something to be envious of, but in moments like this, he wished she didn’t jinx herself.  _ This is too much for anyone to handle.  _

He sighs as he bends to kiss his sister’s head, the iron grip to his arm surprising him as he looks at her. There was thick silence between them as everyone else filed out, leaving them alone and she finally stands up. He cocks an eyebrow at her and his heart stutters for a second when her arms wrap gently around his torso. He slides his arms around her back, holding her to him and he feels the frown slip deeper into his face. 

It was a hug, like any other hug they had shared in the last twenty years, but...but it was  _ that  _ hug. The Katara one. The hug he didn’t know he needed, because the last few days aged him, and she saw it. She just found out about them, but it was like she already knew, because she could feel it. Just being in the room with the two of them, without even knowing. This entire time, she was watching her brother and her best friend fall in love. And she knew he was hurting. He bends slightly to hold her closer to him and he feels the mask slip off...and finally for the first time in days, he lets himself get hit by  _ everything _ .

There was no time to tears, no time for anything because thinking or doing anything else was time that could’ve been spent looking for her. It was, as always, just “part of the job”, as she had put it so many times before, but this wasn’t normal. She always ignored the threats and dealt with them head-on because she was the most stubborn human being. She knew he worried, and she knew what it would do to all of them if she was fatally hurt. That was the worst part of flying blind to find her, because the possibility of their search ending in tragedy threatened to suffocate him. 

Katara squeezes him even tighter to quell his shaking a bit, tears rolling down her cheek as she thinks to her sister. Her polar opposite, but undyingly loyal sister. When they returned to the island after Pantu’s meeting, Katara had had her own breakdown and it wasn’t one that crept up on her. She had been fighting it since he tried to leave the meeting with Pantu. She knew Sokka wasn’t just going to go look to stop the explosives, considering Aang is going with them. She knew where he and Naomi would end up, and it wasn’t her place to rat him out for it because she had thought of doing the same thing yesterday. “I love you,” she whispers to him and he chokes on another sob, squeezing her tightly as he tries to catch his breath. 

“Katara…”  
“I know. They’re waiting for you. Please be careful.” He nods his head against her shoulder and pulls away, gripping her shoulders tightly as he smirks uncomfortably at her. She stares sympathetically back at him as she cups his face in her hands, wiping away the last of the tears on his cheeks with her thumbs. “I thought I was supposed to be the weepy one.” He rolls his eyes and taps her shoulder with his fist, the relief that comes calming him for the moment as he composes himself. It was like a cork that needed to come out, that bubbling feeling in his stomach practically gone and he just stared at his sister for a moment longer. She always knew what he needed. _Always the mother._

Teagan touches her forehead to Naomi’s, the unspoken words between them louder than any ones that could’ve been said aloud. Naomi knew Teagan blamed herself for the mess, her past finally began catching up with them and she was smack in between. To protect, to love one another until death do they part; that was the vow they swore, and Naomi was going to do everything she could to uphold that. 

Cheng brushes past them, touching Naomi’s shoulder to get her attention when he finishes his goodbyes to his wife. No one dared to steal a glance at the wobbling woman as she stormed away, for fear they may be scolded too. She wasn’t mad at him for chasing this investigation, she knew he was a good person and a great cop, there was a deep worry in her that caused the pregnancy-enhanced rage to bubble up and out. All Lun wanted was to know her husband would for sure return home from work every day, instead of staring at the clock and wondering where he was with each second he was late coming in the door. Yakone wasnt just turning the police against each other with his bullshit “informant”, he was turning their families against one another too. 

Cheng steals a look back at Lun, catching her as she does the same thing and the sadness in her eyes makes his nostrils flare. He never wanted to hurt her, never  _ imagined _ his work would be the thing to do so, and he never wanted out so badly in his life. But their work wasn’t done, and he couldn’t leave this growing epidemic to Toph. They both knew that. He ignores Sokka’s call to board the bison as he struts back over to his wife, taking her face in his hands and forcing her to look at him. “I love you….More than anything in this world, Lun,” he says, his voice cracking as he speaks and she covers his hands with her own. “We are  _ going _ to find Toph and put an end to this Yakone shit. I promise.” She takes in a deep, shaky breath, closing her eyes as she leans into his hand.

“Just come back to me.” She whispers, touching her lips softly to his and he holds her for a second longer before bending over to kissing her swollen belly. He didn’t want to bring a baby into the world they currently resided in, being that every other night, the street corners were packed with anti-bending separatists, and their son could very well be a bender. It was a possibility they needed to learn to cope with as parents, and a world like this one was already perilous enough. 

It was something Aang and Katara both struggled with in the years leading up to  _ their _ decision to be parents, because even they knew what bringing a child into this kind of world would mean. They didn’t want them to grow up in the same fear-mongering society they did, so they threw themselves into their work. Just like Cheng was doing.

Sokka harboured that same fear, because he wanted kids of his own. It may not have been as close in the cards as the others, but it was that very real worry that put so much fear into his heart. He knew the impact this would have on everyone and the entire city, but all he could think about was Toph. They just went with the flow and never breathed a word of a so-called “future” together really, but Sokka would be lying if he said he didn’t think of it. The what-ifs were a broken record in his head and that record was repeating more than ever the last few days. He knew it was selfish, but he also saw what this case was doing to her _.  _ She was  _ constantly _ working herself to dea—the thought automatically makes him physically cringe

Her... _ disappearance  _ could harm the politics of Republic City  _ catastrophically.  _ Toph was the face of justice, whether people said it or not, she was pushing every envelope she could to protect everyone she could. She was the one going head-to-head with the king of crime and she was their only hope of taking him down, so there was definitely a motive for holding her captive. As much as he didn’t like to think about it, there was nothing truly stopping him from ending the war between the two and taking her out of the picture all together. 

And as they connected the last barrel of blasting jelly to the detonator, the wires tangled through the massive sewer system, a sinister smile curled across Gur’s face. 

Because it was the plan all along.

But they weren’t going to stop at just Toph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI FRIENDS. So, uh, we're gonna blatantly ignore the fact that I haven't uploaded anything in a bit and celebrate the fact that I DID finally post!!!   
> I am deeply sorry for the wait, I swear I do write, but life does get in the way and I have a full time job that keeps ya girl occupied.
> 
> I wanted to delve deeper into the actual fears of what could potentially happen if one parent was each set of the family, and explore the relationships a little more outside of the Gaang. Mostly because I accidentally wrote Cheng to be a "Looks soft, but could actually kill you" kinda guy and I now love him so I wanted to open up a little more background to him and Lun. 
> 
> As always, I appreciate the feedback if you provide anything and I just enjoy people reading what I've written, so thank you for stopping by!!
> 
> ALSO FELLOW ATLA FAN, in case you're interested in a good time with some GREAT people, come hang with the voice actors over on https://www.twitch.tv/honorsociety every Friday!!!


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